Tag Archive for: community

Connect Series: Meet Bonnie Pigeon

Centrepoint Bonnie

In 2010 after a lengthy career as an advertising consultant in print media in Calgary, Bonnie and her husband made the move to Kamloops, where she took on the position of corporate and government sales manager for Hotel 540. During that time the Centrepoint mediation and arbitration centre was developed, and she took over its management. There she met Marina Hopkins, and in December of 2020 she accepted the role of scheduling/administrative coordinator for Kamloops Reporting Services.

When not busy scheduling discoveries or printing and binding transcripts from her home office, Bonnie takes advantage of the Kamloops climate with activities that include gardening and kayaking, and she also enjoys getting crafty with macramé and painting. She loves to spend time with her two granddaughters, Sofia and McKenzie, when she can too.


You have been doing the whole work-from-home routine for a while now. Do you have any tips or tricks on how you stay focused and organized?

Yes, I have worked from my home office in a previous position, so it is not new to me, and it does have its advantages. I manage to stay focused, and I find I accomplish more because there are fewer distractions than there would be in a busy work environment. I have no kids or pets at home to distract me, so it is just me. I do miss the face-to-face interaction with co-workers and clients, but I find that if I have all the required tools and technology to accomplish my work, I’m okay with that. I am not averse to talking to myself!

You may have noticed that we have been talking quite a bit about wellness on our blog and internally through our Slack channels. Do you have a favourite way to recharge or any tips for staying mentally and physically healthy?

I’m not as physically fit as I once was when running or going to the gym was part of my daily routine, but I do walk on a daily basis, and in the summer months I like riding my bike or kayaking — those activities recharge me. For a mental escape I enjoy cooking — getting into the kitchen and creating something yummy (and healthy) is my go-to when I need to relax. I also recently took up macramé, which I find not only mentally relaxing but also fun since I get to create something with my hands, and this has really helped me during the COVID shutdown. COVID made me rethink my leisure time and need for hobbies.

At Reportex our core values of team, mentorship, equality, community and industry are central to what we do. Which of these values resonates most strongly with you and why?

Although they are all important core values, I think “mentorship” resonates most with me. As we mature in our lives and careers, I think it is essential that we share our learnings and experiences with our younger co-workers, friends and family. There is so much knowledge to pass on that it would be a shame not to share with and guide those just starting out in their careers. I have had several mentors throughout my life, both professionally and personally, and I appreciate and value each one of them.


Thank you, Bonnie, for sharing a little bit about yourself. We are happy for you to be part of the Reportex family. And we also love your thoughts on mentorship and sharing our knowledge and experiences.  Fostering success for individuals and organizations through the advancement of literacy, education, and mentorship opportunities is indeed one of the core values that we strive to focus on every single day.

West Coast LEAF: Using our stories to create a new future

By Kerry Sauriol, Marketing Coordinator


I am one of the new “kids” here, and part of my role is to understand not just the excellent services that Reportex provides the legal community but also why. It’s important that I understand what drives the people here and what is important to them. Thus I was honoured and excited to represent Reportex at the 2021 Breakfast for Dinner virtual event hosted by West Coast LEAF on the evening of March 23rd.

I haven’t attended a lot of virtual events, so I found the whole process fascinating and was in awe to be online with almost 400 women and men who were showing their support of this organization and the work they do. The words of Raji Mangat, executive director of West Coast LEAF, were enough to convince me I was in the company of amazing and inspiring people who feel the same way about equality, injustice, and fighting for a better world, especially when she said:

“We know that returning to what was ‘normal’ is neither possible nor is it desirable. … It wasn’t good enough then, and it isn’t good enough now.”

And that is why the (R)evolution concept here at Reportex resonates so well with me: moving forward, seeing new opportunities and new ways to do better and be better.


Gloria Macarenko led an amazing panel discussion that included El Jones, Jules Arita Koostachin and Kali Spitzer that revolved around the concept storytelling that they do through film, poetry, writing and photography. They spoke of how they used their mediums to weave a new future based on the histories (therestories) of us all, using that past experience to teach us all how to reframe the so-called “norms” that have shaped our culture and society for good and, tragically, for bad.

In her opening speech Gloria read a quote from Arundhati Roy. However, I think another section of that essay fits the way we need to move forward politically, economically and culturally:


“Whatever it is, coronavirus has made the mighty kneel and brought the world to a halt like nothing else could. Our minds are still racing back and forth, longing for a return to ‘normality’, trying to stitch our future to our past and refusing to acknowledge the rupture. But the rupture exists. And in the midst of this terrible despair, it offers us a chance to rethink the doomsday machine we have built for ourselves. Nothing could be worse than a return to normality.”


The way forward for us all is in change and innovation. The way forward for us all means taking all that is good and giving space for that to grow into something better than what existed before. Reportex, believes that.

That is why we focus on our values of team, mentorship, equality, community, and industry. This is why we are excited about our new space that has been created downtown to serve our community. We can’t wait for you to see it. Reportex keeps looking for new ways to build upon our services not just to the legal community but to the community that we work and live with, and that is why I am excited to be part of this team we look to the future.

If you want to learn more about what West Coast LEAF does, do visit their website and donate if you can.