People of the CBSA: Ismaëlle Michelot's story

Transcript

Ismaëlle Michelot, Acting Chief of Operations, speaking from the Montréal Long Room.

My name is Ismaëlle Michelot. I’m the Acting Chief of Operations at the Montréal Long Room in the Quebec Region.

Video of the outside of the building.

Photo of a group of student border services officers.

My office as such takes care of everything commercial. I chose to work at the Agency when I was a student. I came across an opportunity for a student job in the government. I applied and got the job and I’m still here today.

Video of Ismaëlle being handed a folder by an administrative assistant.

Video of Ismaëlle walking outside with two female border services officers.

I work with a team of administrative support staff that is also made up of women; as far as the officers on the floor, I would say that there are fewer women but more than when I started.

Video of Ismaëlle interacting with other employees.

I haven't encountered any obstacles, but what I can say is that as women we put up barriers, we block ourselves. So it sounds easy to say, but what I return to is having an open mind, having confidence, having faith in ourselves.

I'm talking about my own personal experience, I started relatively young.

Video of two border services officers finding a baggy of drugs and a handgun hidden in a vehicle.

Photos of seizures involving the CBSA: 65 kg of opium, 100 kg of meth, and 1,500 kg of chemicals used to produce fentanyl.

Photos of two CBSA employees standing in front of seized drugs.

As a student, you understand the Agency's mandate, you understand the importance of our work, but to be able to find something tangible to say “I made a difference,” which means that this shipment, which was intended to go out on the street, to reach children, people in need or whoever, and to say that I contributed to stopping this… scourge, I could say it's really a sense of pride.

Video of Ismaëlle working in her office.

It's certain that it doesn't happen every day, and now in my day-to-day business, it's the kind of event that happens less often, but we all have our part to play in protecting the borders, and that's a real sense of accomplishment, of pride.