My favourite film as a girl was Mary Poppins. My mother’s friends approved of its message; they believed it supported stay-at-home mums, telling Mrs. Banks to get back home and stop with the women’s suffrage movement. But I only had eyes for Mary Poppins, whose message was very different. Mary epitomized a working woman accomplishing extraordinary things without the approval of the dominant culture (the Banks’ patriarch, George). She was the innovative, creative employee we are urged to encourage within our companies, an independent thinker. Mary took her young charges, Jane and Michael, to rooftops for wild dancing with dark strangers, jumped out of the known world into pictures chalked onto pavements, spoke new words, and embraced the risk of drinking tea while floating with a crazy, laughing man. Mary Poppins was my ultimate change-agent provocateur.

With such a bold teacher, where might Jane and Michael be today?

If you remember, Jane managed to copy Mary's enviable magic and whisk her dolls’ house into order with a flick of her wrist; so either she’s now like Linda Reeves, who can redesign a room with one look, or a devoted mother and wife creating a magical home for her family. Either way, Jane would have had the choice and Ms. Poppins would have undoubtedly supported whatever she chose.

Michael MacMillan, the entrepreneur who created Alliance Atlantis, has a suspiciously similar grin to Michael Banks.

At the time Mary Poppins was released, a tiny rudder was beginning to turn the steamship of Western society: The birth control pill. It has since changed the Western world drastically, giving women a choice. Today, Jane would be able to decide on ways in which she could participate in the work-world and the home-world. Compared to the sixties, many more women are choosing to have fewer children.

History shows that population swings cause waves. Mark Steyn, author of America Alone, writing in his barroom brawler way, posed the question: If Muslims are rapidly becoming the majority group, what changes in our choices will result? I did not share Steyn’s worries. I agree with the Obama philosophy, whereby we are all Canadians sharing and respecting the value of choice, regardless of religion, race or sex.

But Steyn has now been summoned to court for his choice of words and upsetting several young males from the fastest growing religious group, along with the Canadian Islamic Congress. Ezra Levant, publisher of the Western Standard, is also being prosecuted, for printing those Danish cartoons. This is freedom of the press being questioned by state officials, and that is a worrying tiny rudder that may swing Canadian values.

Crikey – how did we get here? We’ve lived through Madonna's stage show and The Exorcist with Linda Blair’s 101 Creative Things To Do With a Crucifix. If you were not in a movie house in Canada during the seventies watching The Exorcist, I suggest you rent it in order to gain some perspective on why someone of Mark Steyn’s age would shrug off images or words that might not respect religious beliefs. Perhaps this movie should be required viewing for anyone under 30, or new arrivals to our shores. It taught me a great deal about the rights of religion, women, men, and demons.

Doing business in Canada is an extraordinary experience for women who have formerly worked in countries where the female role is restricted. The invisible hand of the surrounding culture (held up by both men and women) wields exceptional power over young girls developing their self-image. Since Canadian writers are now being prosecuted for words and images that are tamer than those of the seventies, we need to ask, is this the type of multiculturalism we want? Demographic changes are occurring and emerging cultures are asking for shifts in the Canadian value system. Let’s start a conversation about what impact each of these shifts could have further down the road on female choices and future work. I know it’s what Mary Poppins would do.

Jacoline Loewen is a financial advisor for companies seeking capital, as well as a corporate strategy expert, lecturer, and writer of two published books.