October 22, 2020

Marco Romani

I am a Canadian ski patroller. It’s the only title that really matters to me. It’s because of this title which was taught to me during my very first training night in the Fall of 2008 that I went on to become the Administration Officer of the Eastern Townships Zone (ETZ) less than 2 years later due to the untimely passing of my predecessor. I dedicated myself to the task and within 2 years was asked to run for Zone President, a position which I occupied until yet again another 2 years later it was suggested I run for Division President of the Quebec Division. I have held this position since 2014.

In my personal and professional life I am a proud father of 2 children and an Administrative Judge in Canada’s largest Administrative Tribunal dealing with workplace accidents and occupational illnesses. I am a lawyer by profession and have been since I joined the Quebec Bar in 1998. I am perfectly bilingual, with a meticulous and polished level of standardized international business French as my profession and occupation demands. I was fortunate to be raised bilingual since my early childhood, I consider that a great privilege.

I am not a big fan of enumerating a list of ‘my’ accomplishments, mainly because in all instances it was always a group effort and I was just one of the cogs in the machine. All of my accomplishments were because of the contribution of my peers. That being said, I’m proud of the fact I have contributed to making the ETZ’s annual ski sale such a successful fundraising event. I was honored when asked to Chair the National Uniform Committee that led to our successful conversion to the CSP’s new brand and color. I will remain humble and say it again, in all of those instances, many of which I received the recognition of my peers, I was always a part of a team and our collective success was related to how well we collaborated and worked together towards the end goal.

Past accomplishments will demonstrate a member’s dedication to the system but in my opinion, and in all honesty, any single one of the members running for the Board of Governors is very dedicated. What distinguishes each member from the next is our vision of what the future of this organization resembles. My vision begins with taking stock of who we are and what we do. I believe we need to identify and focus on the reasons that led us to becoming such a respected organization from coast-to-coast and at the same time explore why our membership has been experiencing a steady decline the last few years. This is the harsh reality we need to face today. One of the best examples being my own division; the Quebec Division is one of the few in the system that has to compose with direct competition from other organizations providing similar services to ski resorts. This is a trend that I believe will continue if we are not proactive in finding solutions to improve our offering and counter the potential losses.

We must acknowledge our members needs and ensure that we provide them the best tools and benefits we can, as they deserve and are entitled to expect. I think, no, I know, we can be better, we can do better. We must.

For those of you who know me or have heard me in any of the meetings we have shared, you know how strongly I believe that the system and its officers are accountable to our members. Our structure is quite simple. Our members elect Zone Presidents and Zone Presidents elect the Board of Governors. The Board has the duty of offering a vision that represents the will of our members. This is who we are and it is what we do.

I’m a Canadian ski patroller and I’m very proud to say it.