Top auctioneer gets community bidding big to support conservation

When auctioneer Mac Leask Jr. gets behind the mic at the annual Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) dinner in Dawson Creek, B.C., the whole room lights up. His lively auctioneering style and friendly demeanour energize every event he attends.

“I mingle and get to know as many people as I can before I start to sell because having that familiarity makes them feel comfortable about bidding,” he explains. “I used to have a corded microphone, so I would be stuck at the podium. When you’re auctioning, you really have to engage with everyone. I bought a cordless mic so I can walk around and interact directly with people.”

Finding his voice behind the mic

An auctioneering career wasn’t an obvious choice for Leask growing up, but it turned out to be his true calling.

“I was never a good public speaker when I was younger. I was always a shy person,” he recalls. “When I get behind a mic, it’s like nobody is watching and I can work the room. I’ll egg people on and make them laugh. I love making people laugh. That’s the one thing I’ve learned as an auctioneer: if you can get people laughing, they’ll bid!”

After catching the auction bug working at the local livestock market in his late teens, Leask went up to Edmonton for an auctioneering course. He returned to Dawson Creek and soon became the number one auctioneer in the area.

Leask started volunteering with DUC nearly a decade ago, after Don Bourassa from the Dawson Creek chapter asked him if he was interested in lending his top-tier auctioneering skills to their annual fundraising dinner. It wasn’t just the invitation that motivated Leask to get involved, it was the DUC community’s kindness and generosity.

“What really made me want to start volunteering is the support my family has received from the people involved with DUC,” Leask says. “We lost our middle daughter in a car accident and the community had a fundraiser and auction to help us stay on our feet. Volunteering was one way for me to give back.”

Driving fundraising success in Dawson Creek

Through his continued involvement in DUC, Leask has become a pillar of that community. His presence at the Dawson Creek dinner keeps people coming back — and bidding big on auction items. Over the last couple of years, the Dawson Creek dinner was one of the top fundraising events in Canada.

“To be competitive with the big cities in terms of donations with a town that’s just 15,000 people makes you feel pretty good,” he says. “It gives me goosebumps knowing that we’ve had a great auction.”

In addition to working the Dawson Creek dinner, Leask is often asked to travel to other DUC events around B.C. and he’s served as auctioneer in Prince George, Chetwynd, Tumbler Ridge and Fort St. John. Outside of DUC, he also helps out with local art and pottery auctions, as well as pro bono auctions for the rodeo community.

A rancher’s perspective on conservation

When Leask isn’t busy auctioning off everything from horses to handmade ceramics, you can find him feeding livestock and facilitating calving season on a ranch he manages north of Fort St. John. A lifelong rancher, his experience maintaining cattle and horses instilled a deep understanding of the importance of conservation.

“Lots of people think ranches take away from the land, but I believe ranchers are true conservationists,” he says. “Our livestock live off the land and if we don’t look after it, the land wears out. Our animals are part of the ecosystem just like deer, elk, moose, ducks and geese.”

Leask has seen firsthand how conservation efforts can have a positive impact on ranching activities and the surrounding ecosystem at the same time. “Some people blow out beaver dams in the creeks on their property, for example, but we found that preserving the dams would keep more water on the land not just for our own livestock, but for other animals in the area as well,” he says.

Where conservation hits home

A commitment to conservation connects Leask to the DUC cause. It’s rewarding for him to witness how the hard work of the volunteers in his region has paid off. “I’ve seen where the money goes in my own area,” Leask says. “Right around Dawson there are several ponds that Ducks has been involved in. They’ve also had projects near the Site C dam and to the east, near the Alberta border. ”

When he speaks about the work DUC does, Leask emphasizes the lasting positive impact the organization has had on local ecosystems — and the role it plays in enriching the local community.