Ed Wissian is the Aboriginal Advisor for the Canadian Defence Academy and the Royal Military College of Canada, a role he has been in since 2002. In this capacity, Ed advises leadership at all levels and works within the organization to develop Aboriginal specific strategies and programs, particularly as it pertains to education and professional development geared to increase Aboriginal representation in areas of leadership, notably in the officer corps and the senior non-commissioned cadre, as well as enhancing attraction and retention into the Canadian Forces as a "career of choice".
Ed is ideally suited to the role. He is a member of the Anishinaabek Nation (Ojibway) and belongs to the Pic Mobert First Nation located in Northern Ontario Canada. He served as a Communicator in the Canadian Forces from 1972-1998 and retired after a 26-year career at the rank of Master Warrant Officer (Sergeant-Major). During this time, he served in a number of locations in Canada, the United States and Germany. Ed currently resides in the Kingston area and is active in the urban Aboriginal community where he works to build Aboriginal capacity and leadership in a number of areas including housing, youth, economic development, and justice.
In addition, Ed, as part of a National team of Elders and Aboriginal facilitators, recently completed a four-year research program for the Correctional Service of Canada delivering training and collecting data on a high-intensity substance abuse program for Aboriginal male offenders. This unique opportunity took him inside all of the various federal prisons in the Ontario Region and other parts of Canada.
Ed recently submitted his manuscript, entitled “Out of Step” (a narration of his 26 years in uniform) and edited by Tom Douglas, to the Canadian Forces Leadership Institute (CFLI) for eventual and potential publication by CDA Press. He is hoping that this will be the first step towards publishing a collection of narratives of Aboriginal people who served in Canada’s forces and then returned to the Aboriginal community. Ed sees this as both building primary sources and legitimizing Aboriginal stakeholder status in the Profession.
Ed is founder and owner of Neegan Seewin, an Aboriginal leadership, learning and coaching company that he started in 1998.
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