Features Podcast
Blue Line, The Podcast: Dilnaz Garda, Toronto Beyond the Blue

If you haven’t heard about Canada Beyond the Blue, you need to. Canada Beyond the Blue is a “peer-led, non-profit organization with chapters across the nation.” These include ones in Toronto and York Region in Ontario as well as in Calgary, Alta., and other areas. It is dedicated to “strengthening and supporting” families of law enforcement officers.

“We strive to promote an awareness of our officer’s worth as well as an understanding of the joys and struggles that are uniquely experienced in life in law enforcement,” the organization’s mandate reads.

For the latest episode of Blue Line, The Podcast, we zoom in on police families and hear from Dilnaz Garda, also known as Del, the president of Toronto Beyond the Blue (TBTB). The vice-president of Canada Beyond the Blue as well, Del is well known in law enforcement circles for her dedication to making a sustainable, cultural shift in the area of mental health and well-being for Toronto police officers/members and their families.

In our podcast this month, she shares more on how TBTB has pivoted in the wake of COVID-19, the Heroes In Life Memorial and the importance in honouring those officers who have died because of the line of duty in a separate monument or wall “because the death is different.”

We also cover building mental resilience in today’s volatile climate, when we are faced with what at times feels like overwhelming waves of anti-police sentiments.

“There’s a real heaviness and sadness to this environment right now,” Garda says. “So, we feel isolated even further.” Connecting with other police families who understand is a big piece in moving through this, she adds.

“One of the things we can do is take control of what we have control over — turn off the social media, make the decision not to watch Sons of Anarchy…”

For the full conversation, hit play in the SoundCloud link below or search Annex Business Media: Podcasts wherever you get your podcasts.

You can also stream the show here at annexbusinessmedia.com/podcasts or on our own playlist here: https://soundcloud.com/user-381015363/sets/blue-line-podcast .

Did you miss our last podcast episode with Assistant Commissioner Serge Côté, the executive director of the Canadian Police College (CPC), and Supt. Doug Ross, director of the School of Police Sciences with CPC? Hear more from that conversation about leadership and modernization HERE.

This episode is brought to you by Wilfrid Laurier University.

 Wilfrid Laurier University offers respected and affordable policing, criminology and policing, and public safety, programs that are fully online and designed to advance your career. Choose from: a Bachelor of Arts in Policing, Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Policing, Master of Public Safety, and 5 Graduate Diplomas in the areas of Emergency Management, National Security, Countering Crime, Border Strategies, and GIS and Data Analytics. Transfer credits apply for Basic Constable Training towards the BA in Policing.  For more information visit www.laurierpublicsafety.ca