Provided within is an update on the many patrol related items from the Calgary Zone and beyond that may be impacted in light of the current situation. Please have a read through and do not hesitate to contact myself or your patrol leader should you have questions.
Recertification: As you are all now well aware, if you re-certified in 2019/2020, your certification will be carried forward for the 2020/2021 season. To provide you some background, the Alberta Government issued a requirement that all First Aid training/certification cease as it required close contact and that all certifications be carried forward. This information was presented to the CSP Board of Directors and the National V.P. of Education and the consensus of the national system was to extend the certifications. This extension has now been implemented across the country.
Summer Events: Jarrett McRitchie (PL Summer Events) has been working with our summer events partners. A number of these events have been cancelled or postponed; however, he is hopeful that there will be some events later in the summer or early fall. The calendar will be updated as we learn more.
Executive Meetings: There will continue to be many unanswered questions. Your Calgary Zone Executives continue to meet using a virtual platform. We are attempting to address issues as they arise, as well as having discussions about opportunities that may present themselves as a result of the current situation.
Budget: We are producing an austerity budget as we are presuming that we will not have any revenue (worst case scenario) from the Calgary Casino, which has been postponed to a later date, yet to be determined and possibly the New & Used Ski Sale. “We just don’t know.” Better to be prepared than to be surprised. We have use of our contingency funds to carry on for next year, with the same Membership Fee structures we have used in the past.
Q: “if our certifications are carried forward do we have to pay our fees for the 2020/2021 season”.
YES, these are membership fees not recertification fees.
Annual General Meeting: We continue our preparations for the virtual AGM in June. Cody Whitten, V.P. Admin and Sandra Williams, AGM Chair, have been working on a secure voting platform as well as the Zoom Virtual meeting Platform. We have tested both platforms and they work extremely well. Mike Palalmarek, Mountain Division President will be the scrutineer for the election.
Awards: We are looking at rescheduling the Awards celebration for the early fall.
Returning Weekend: Your Patrol Leaders are working on review material for your returning weekend, which will assist everyone in refreshing their skills when they return to Patrolling next season.
Recruitment: We continue to move forward on the recruiting processes. Zone Presidents are working with National Education to open up the e-learning platform so that we can begin the process of training the new patrollers in the event that the government does not lift the restrictions. Kai Seltner, V.P. Recruiting, continues to stay in touch with the individuals who have expressed an interest in joining.
Education: John Bannerman, V.P. Education is still planning on setting the New Patroller courses for the fall. We should have everything planned and ready once the restrictions are lifted. If they are not lifted we will work on modifying the training schedule to address the issues as they appear on the horizon. Again, “We just don’t know.”
In true Ski Patrol fashion, we will “treat for the worst and hope for the best”. We will continue to update you all as we receive more detailed information, but for now, stay safe.
Jean Rioux
Calgary Zone President