When 15-year-old Megan Leslie stood in front of her hometown’s town hall in the late 1980s to protest a proposal to store waste in a nearby abandoned mine, it was the first time she felt part of something bigger than herself — and the beginning of her 30-year commitment to environmental stewardship. After going on to obtain a law degree from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Leslie was elected as the NDP MP for the city in 2008, serving as environment critic before losing her seat in 2015. At the end of that same year, she first started working for World Wildlife Fund Canada and, two years later, became its president and CEO. Leslie spoke with Canadian Geographic about leaving politics, how individual actions lead to big change and “In the Zone,” WWF’s native species planting program. (WWF is expanding the reach of this program by partnering with Canadian Geographic’s Network of Nature program.)
On switching from politics to non-profit advocacy
This story is from the May/June 2021 edition of Canadian Geographic.
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This story is from the May/June 2021 edition of Canadian Geographic.
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