Diana Burke seeks the Liberal nomination in #Torontocentre

Note: Technical problems at the beginning - please pick this up about 10 minutes into it.

Why Diana is running ...

I am living a Canadian immigrant’s dream.  I arrived in Canada 40 years ago with just a high school education thanks to the Liberal immigration policies at the time. Through hard work and by taking advantage of exceptional opportunities to learn and grow professionally, I enjoyed a very successful career.  These Liberal policies also allowed me to bring some of my family here, including my parents, who hoped for and became successful contributors to Canada and enthusiastic Canadians.

I joined Royal Bank of Canada as a teller in my hometown of Kingston, Jamaica, when I was 16 and just out of high school. Impressed by the Canadians who were helping Jamaica build its communications, banking and transportation infrastructure at the time, I immigrated to this great country in my early 20s. Eventually, I met a wonderful Canadian Robert who has been my partner for over 30 years now, including his two lovely children, Michael and Diana.

On arrival, Royal Bank of Canada rehired me in Montreal starting as a teller again.  I enjoyed spectacular opportunities, rising from that entry-level job to the most senior ranks of Canada’s largest financial institution to my final role as a Senior Vice-president and Chief Information Security Officer, in charge of keeping the global technology system up and running and safe all day, all night, every day, all year. During my career, I was proud to work on and help lead many of the bank’s technology innovations at the time such as the banking machines, debit and credit card systems and Internet banking.   I believe that my information technology and security expertise is important and would help to ensure the future of our open democracy and transparency in government, which is now seriously at risk.

 Diana@dianaburke.ca