John Leggat has been the CEO of St.Amant for the last decade, and as he heads towards his retirement date in June, 2022, he doesn’t need to reflect for long when asked about what’s most proud of. Much has changed for the organisation over the years, and much has changed around it, as well.
“One of the biggest accomplishments has been a real shift in how we operate as an organisation and how we focus on human rights and advocacy,” Leggat shares. “We’ve been able to move 150 people into community who were formerly living in an institutional setting, and we’ve created strong and lasting partnerships within the community to help us be a stronger collective.”
When Leggat first began his role with St.Amant ten years ago, he took the helm of an organisation that was insulated from the wider developmental disabilities and autism sector. “We weren’t a very good partner at the time,” he admits. “Then we saw an opportunity to work with Abilities Manitoba and began to share information and ideas that historically, we wouldn’t have. It opened the door to trust and lots of conversations about the challenges we face in doing this work.”
Advocacy has become an important part of the work that St.Amant does. They had a significant role in improving the disability pension in Manitoba, as well as strategic and operational work with Disability Matters Vote campaign and Abilities Manitoba. “We were able to step into that space and influence decisions,” Leggat continues. “We went from being on an island to being a strong part of the larger disability sector.”
While he’s proud of the work St.Amant has done internally to provide a better quality of life for those they support, he’s aware there’s more to do. “The pandemic has been especially difficult for the people we support,” says Leggat. “Our people have been locked on their units for almost two years. We need to deal with that, and we need to do better. There are plans to move another 60 people into the community in the near future.”
He knows that the leadership team at St.Amant has those changes well in hand. “I really do think it’s our leaders and our staff that make us special,” Leggat affirms. “The history of the Sisters who founded St.Amant lives on; we continue to find solutions to unmet needs. Our leaders are focusing on things like personal outcome measures. We’re focusing on each individual and what we can do to support them.”
Daniel Lussier, the CEO of Réseau Compassion Network, will miss Leggat’s advocacy and leadership, but most of all, his heart. “He’s a remarkable leader who has such a deep respect for the people he serves,” Lussier says. “He’s a change-marker who’s not afraid to make bold and courageous moves. He always believes that St.Amant can do better. But most of all, his heart is in this work, and he expects that heart-felt connection from everyone who works at St.Amant. That’s what truly makes the difference.”
What’s next for Leggat? Known as someone who’s always thinking a few steps ahead, he’s going to experiment with slowing down. “I’m going to take the summer off and see what options and opportunities await in the fall,” he admits.
In the meantime, Réseau Compassion Network would like to thank him for his years of dedication and leadership at St.Amant, in the disability sector and in the broader community. “If we could clone John, we would,” concludes Lussier. “He has a lot of wisdom, a huge heart, and we’ll miss him tremendously.”