Electric and eclectic — Aird Flavelle brings energy and a wide range of interests to his unique connection to UFV

He may be the most interesting man in Abbotsford. He’s certainly one of the most eclectic. And Aird Flavelle is also one of UFV’s biggest fans.

In an ordinary year, Aird — a local entrepreneur, would-be politician, volunteer, pilot, and about a half dozen other things — can often be spotted in a seat inside the lecture theatre in Building B on UFV’s Abbotsford campus enjoying a good lecture. And the topic doesn’t matter. It could be global politics, environmental reform, race relations, or emerging tech; Aird is locked in, engaged, and ready for discussion.

“They have some of the most wonderful speakers and events in B101,” Aird says proudly. “I couldn’t possibly count the number of times I’ve been in there at that lecture hall —sometimes I think I’ve got the students beat on overall attendance!”

It’s this connection to UFV that has inspired him to give back to the university as a mentor and a donor.

Aird is not your typical academic. He dropped out of high school in Coquitlam in Grade 9 (although he almost earned a bachelor’s degree years later at the University of Calgary, majoring in economics and East Asian studies).

He is not a UFV alumnus, nor is his wife or adult son. He rarely reads books, but spends several hours per day reading news reports and articles. Attending events, lectures, and public forums at UFV is where Aird quenches his thirst for knowledge.

“I like the options of having a university in town,” says Aird. “It’s an opportunity to go out of your house and get a broader viewpoint on different world issues.”

Learning is what may have brought Aird initially to UFV’s doorstep over 20 years ago, but it was community that made him stay. Between his gregarious personality and multiple visits on campus over the years, it was just a matter of time before he became integrated into the UFV family.

His relationship with the institution runs deep, from alumni to faculty members to the president. As a successful Fraser Valley IT entrepreneur — he founded MSA Computer Ltd in 1992, which later morphed into Red Rhino Networks — Aird and his wife Sheila have become valued donors to UFV. What started as an annual bursary to support the computer science program has evolved into a legacy: a $1,000 Political Science Endowment Leadership Award in Aird’s family name.

“We changed it to political science because our world is very, very political now,” says Aird, who himself has run in five civic (as an Independent) and three provincial (as a Green Party candidate) elections and has yet to secure a victory.

“We don’t have nearly enough great people in politics; we want to encourage the next generation of politicians.”

Aird’s support for UFV runs deeper than writing a cheque or attending a lecture. For the last decade, he has served as a mentor for a few UFV students each year, meeting with them weekly (pre-COVID) in the foyer of the Student Union Building.

“I spend a pile of time at the university,” he said. “I meet with a specific student for literally a couple of years until they graduate, and we talk about their goals and how to move closer to them.”

He  adds with a laugh: “I’m just the old guy trying to be a bit helpful.”

Aird, 67, is a grandfather, but he’s not “just an old guy.” He serves on several boards and is involved with the local Rotary club of Abbotsford-Matsqui and the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce.

But he’s more than a successful businessman. And he’s not detached from the issues that concern millennial or Gen-Z UFV students. He’s not anything you think he might be.

Renaissance man

If you read some biographies on Aird or talked to him in person, you would swear he was Forrest Gump, in terms of diverse life experiences.

Aird has served in the Australian army. He is a commercial pilot. He is a third-degree blackbelt and is a past instructor in jiu-jitsu. He has studied Mandarin, Japanese and Punjabi (fun fact: he met his wife Sheila, pictured below, in an Arabic language class while both were living in Calgary). He is a volunteer dancer for Abbotsford’s Business in Black dance troupe. And he has been known to wear a kilt and tie featuring the City of Abbotsford tartan to events.

“I tell people that Grade 9 was the best three years of my life,” he says with a laugh. “I never made it through high school by a long shot. And I’m not very good at classroom-type stuff. Some people suggest I bounce off the walls a lot. So I go do other things.”

Aird has been a prolific community volunteer with organizations focused on hospice care, restorative justice, nature, art, local history, and gardening. He has served on the City of Abbotsford’s environmental advisory committee and he chaired Abbotsford’s sister city committee.

He is an avid council-watcher and since 2007 has a near perfect attendance record for Abbotsford City Council meetings. “I also go to the police board meetings,” he says. “And all of the City’s citizen advisory committee meetings.”

With this kind of energy and infectious personality, an outsider might think Aird is more suited for a fast-paced, highly populated city. But he is quick to correct that notion.

“Abbotsford is just as high energy as New York City,” says Aird, who moved to the Fraser Valley in the early 1990s to escape the Alberta winters. “There’s a pile of stuff here and we can draw crowds here too. Very early on after my wife and I moved here 31 years ago, we immediately heard about the Abbotsford Air Show, and I knew this area was special and we’d be happy here.”

“There are things to do in a community if you get involved in them,” adds Sheila, who also serves on several boards around town. “It’s just a matter of actually joining and volunteering. That’s where the change and the growth starts.”

The Flavelles’ visibility and participation in the community led to involvement in politics, even though it was by chance. As members of the Abbotsford-Matsqui Rotary Club, Aird and Sheila met other members who were politicians like George Peary (former Mayor of Abbotsford) and Michael de Jong (current Liberal MLA for Abbotsford West and former cabinet minister). Aird observed first-hand how individuals could influence change.

“All of a sudden, I realized that I could have an impact,” Aird says. “And one day in 2007, I heard that there was going to be an election for mayor and council. And I said, ‘I could do so much more if I had a seat on council. And so, I’ve been running for council ever since.”

Aird was an executive in the provincial council of the BC Green Party in 2014 as a regional representative for the Fraser Valley, and became the treasurer in 2016.

He’s an avid ally for LGBTQ2 rights (he and Sheila enjoy attending drag shows), equality, and diversity, a supporter of the Abbotsford police, and an advocate for sustainability and the environment.

“It’s been a great learning experience for our whole family understanding the ins and outs of provincial and civic government,” says Sheila. “Supporting the Green Party and what they believe in, we try to live those ideas and ideals because they align with our values.”

Zooming through pandemic life

We may be living in a global pandemic, but that has not grounded the Flavelles. Before the mid-afternoon call for this  story, Aird had already attended a remote Green Party council meeting, done renovations around the house, attended a lunch-and-learn with his company Red Rhino and the Chamber of Commerce, and even found time to bring Sheila breakfast in bed.

The pandemic has also not cut off Aird’s source of information — although the trips to the B101 lecture theatre had to temporarily pause.

“Zoom has been magical for us,” says Aird. “In the past year, we’ve logged on to so many cool lectures at UFV and learned so many cool things. Because we were locked up in our house, we found ourselves going to things that we wouldn’t have gone to before. It just opened the doors even wider to a broader learning experience.”

It’s partly because UFV has brought the Flavelles so much joy and community that they pay it forward with the Flavelle Endowment Leadership Award. A legacy that will outlive them.

“It’s fun to be recognized, but in 20 years’ time, nobody will remember me and that’s okay,” Aird says. “But the fund will still be there, hopefully making a difference in somebody’s career journey.”

A career journey is something that Aird knows plenty about. He’s accomplished many things in many different areas with many different people. It is that incomparable passion for life and learning that connected him to UFV, and vice versa.

“UFV has done so much for me and so much for improving the overall community, making it a better place, a safer place, a more interesting place, a more dynamic and economically viable place,” he says, pausing and flashing a quick smile on the Zoom screen. “There are not enough wonderful things you can say about having a special university in your town.”