President s Message. Here is an update on current affairs and items to consider within the next couple of months.

Transcription

1 March 15, 2011 President s Message I started to write my message to you last Friday, the day of the earthquake and tsunami. Throughout the day I was, like many of you, glued to the TV or internet with scenes of such devastation that it was surreal. As Emergency Managers we all plan for worst cast scenarios. But what happens to our planning when there is something worse than what our modeling, hazard idenfication and risk assessments (HIRAs), and wildest imaginations have identified? Japan is a world leader in preparedness and mitigation. But was it enough? I leave it to you. At some time do we need to realize that there are some situations that are beyond us and we must accept that nature or other forces go beyond what we are capable of handling? Is doing our best with what we have good enough? Our good wishes and thoughts are with the citizens of Japan, and Christchurch, New Zealand, as well as with all the dedicated men and women who are part of the relief effort. Here is an update on current affairs and items to consider within the next couple of months. May Elections This year the following positions are up for election: President, VP-East, and Secretary. I would like all of you to consider whom you would like to see in these positions for the next two years. As a reminder a notice will be sent out mid-april for nomination for the positions, with instructions whom they are to go to. Note that you are allowed to nominate yourself. Voting will be from the first of May to mid May. Winners will be announced at the AGM on May 29 th and duties are to start July 1 st. As a reminder from our By-law if you are considering running: Section 8 Qualifications of Officers and Directors To be elected or appointed to an office, a member shall meet the following requirements:

2 A. The member must be an Individual Member of IAEM-Canada in good standing, as defined in Article V, Section 2(A) and Section 6. B. In order to be placed on the ballot for election as an officer and director, the person must be an individual, 18 years of age or more, with the ability under law to contract. C. In order to be placed on the ballot for a Board Member, the member must be in good standing for three (3) consecutive years as an Individual member. Duties of the President, VP-East, and Secretary are described in the By-law, which is available on-line. These are 2-year terms, and the successful individuals will be expected to contribute to the Association. For quick reference: Section 7 Duties of Officers The Officers of IAEM Canada shall have the following duties, in addition to acting as directors of IAEM Canada: A. The President shall represent IAEM Canada in a leadership capacity that best advances the interest of IAEM Canada and its membership. The President of IAEM Canada will assume an active role on the Global Board of Directors and report back to the membership on global initiatives. Among the President s duties are providing support and direction to working groups the Board of Directors may establish; representing the Canadian Region at various functions and with other organizations; presiding at Annual General Meetings of IAEM Canada and meetings of the Board of Directors; authorizing expenditures within budget appropriations approved by the Board of Directors; and performing such other duties as required and provided for in the Act or these Bylaws. B. The Vice Presidents of East (ON, QC, NS, NB, PEI, NFLD, Nunavut and First Nations) and West (MB, SK,AB, BC, NWT, YK, and First Nations) will be the conduit for their respective members to bring information, ideas and concerns to the Board. Vice Presidents are expected to acknowledge the member s communications and be responsible to respond to the initiator of such communications the Board s decisions and/or discussion points. The Board will be copied on all final communications. D. The Secretary shall maintain accurate records of the proceedings of all meetings of the IAEM Canada s membership and those of its officers and perform such other duties as required by the Act and these Bylaws. One item to note, and this has been one item that has been an issue for the past two years. It is understood that all of us who volunteer our personal time have families and primary jobs that must come first. However when you step up to the plate to accept a nomination and run for election there is the implied responsibility that you will be an active

3 contributor. Upcoming recommended changes to our By-laws, if approved, will make it easier to remove any Board member who is not pulling their weight and contributing to the Association. I think in the past two years we have accomplished so much that this must continue so we can make the profession of Emergency Management well understood but more importantly, well respected. Standing, Global and Ad Hoc Committees In my last President s message I had mentioned we need a new person to represent IAEM- Canada on the Global Scholarship Committee. It is actually a fairly simple commitment, Dr. Jane Rovin, committee chair, has informed me. The committee has a monthly conference call that usually last 30 minutes but at times goes 1 hour. They also meet at the IAEM-USA Annual Conference for those in attendance, those not there can call in. They ask the Commissioners to be present at the live auction during the IAEM-USA Conference and help with fundraising, and will be asking for assistance at other IAEM conferences as they happen. In the May/June timeframe the committee does the annual scholarship application reviews. This does takes a far amount of time - several hours. Yet the time commitment is totally dependent on the number of applicants they get. Of course this varies every year. From time to time other activities come up like the internationalization sub-committee or the strategic planning sub-committee. If you are interested please contact me and I will make arrangements to link you up with Dr. Rovin. I have also received notification that our Chair of the Government Affairs Standing Committee, Krista Simonds will not be extending her term. Krista s term finishes the end of May and Krista has been so kind to give us ample time to look for a new chair. At this time I would like to thank Krista on behalf of the Board of Directors for a wonderful job at developing this committee and steer us in the direction of partnership with various government agencies. If you are interested in this position, again send me an . Krista has been working on a potential partnership with the GeoConnections Program of Natural Resources Canada and the Centre for Security Science Multi-Agency Situational Awareness System (MASAS). We have been working with the CSS on partnership as they are an invited guest speaker for the AGM in Halifax. I am putting out a call for volunteers in order to establish an ad hoc committee responsible for developing an IAEM-Canada awards program. This is to further the work initiated by Murielle Provost, CEM, Chair of the Training, Education and Professional Development Committee. Murielle has provided the framework for the awards program that will recognize outstanding Canadian Emergency Managers. One of the strong points that was developed was that no matter how big or small the government or agency, the work being done by outstanding individuals needs to be recognized. As I had stated Murielle has developed the framework and the Terms of Reference for the Awards Committee which I will include with this message. Please Murielle at Murielle.provost@saintjohn.ca if you are interested in helping out.

4 AGM, May 29 th Halifax, N.S. As I have been letting you know our AGM is on May 29, the day before the Canadian Red Cross s Conference on Disaster Management. We are finalizing the agenda and will post it soon. If you are attending the AGM and need overnight accommodations or attending both the AGM and the Conference you can book your room at the Prince George Hotel, conveniently located in downtown Halifax and connected to the conference venue. For on-line bookings use Group ID: and Password: You can reserve a room by calling toll free at , quoting the Canadian Red Cross Conference on Disaster Management. Note the Canadian Red Cross has set a special rate that covers a May 29 th book-in start, but please read the conditions that apply to the Red Cross rate. Conference registration is opening soon. Early bird registration fees are $ (plus HST) per person. After April 1, 2011, the fees will increase to $ (plus HST) per person. If you cannot attend, John Saunders, VP-East is arranging video conferencing. If you are interested in attending via the web let John know at john.saunders@redcross.ca CEM /AEM exam and prep course We are planning at this time to have two sessions of the exam and prep course for our members. The first will be part of our AGM in Halifax. The second will be in conjunction with the Toronto Emergency Management Symposium which is held on November 16, 17, We have booked a room to hold the exam and prep course on November 18. I have asked our CEM Commissioner Jennifer Smysnuik to investigate the possibility of one more exam in Western Canada. Please note that the prep course has a minimum attendance and it is a lot of work to put both the prep course and the exam together. We need to know numbers. If you are interested in attending the prep course or writing the exam in Halifax please Jennifer at jsmysnu@toronto.ca by April 29 th. On April 30, we will reevaluate to see if there is enough interest to do the Prep Course and Exam on May 29. From there, Jennifer will notify Kate Walker, IAEM-Global CEM Program Administrator and will open the on-line registration for interested participants. You will have 2 weeks to go on--line to pay the credential fee and sign up for the course. IAEM HQ always closes registrations two weeks prior to the course date so they have time to prepare materials and ship them in advance. We will initiate the same process in the fall for the Toronto courses. I would like to point out that the prep course is available on-line at But please not that this prep course has not been Canadianized. Jennifer is working on converting the course to include any relevant Canadian legislation that is necessary.

5 More work from the CEM Commissioner Jennifer You have received from Jennifer the question of the month regarding core competencies. I would ask that all of you reply to Jennifer as to what may be missing from the list as well as what is important to your province, territory, or agency. This information will assist in developing future emergency management training programs. And finally, mentoring is an issue that the Board strongly supports. I will admit my career may not have taken me to where I am today without the honour of not just one but two mentors. These two individuals assisted me early in my career to develop a professional presence as well as an understanding of what is expected at higher levels of management. We would like to develop a mentoring program for individuals looking at working in the field as well as preparing for working towards their CEM an AEM designations. If you are interested in finding a mentor please contact Jennifer or me and we will try to connect you with a CEM in your area. Another CEM Commissioner for Canada I would like to let you know that the Board has selected another Canadian CEM to assist on the Global Commission. We are still to receive conformation, yet we are excited to have another individual on board. VP-Work Being a VP brings on the responsibilities to see where there is potential growth of the Association within their geographical boundaries. Our VP-West has been tasked by the Board to outreach to our British Columbia members to see if there is interest in developing a Region. I will strongly stress here that we are not competing with the existing British Columbia Association of Emergency Managers. In Ontario we have members that belong to both the Ontario Assocation of Emergency Managers as well as IAEM-Canada. It is what the members want that counts. In the East there has been interest expressed last November by a member in Quebec to work more closely with IAEM-Canada. There is consideration to bringing in the members of the current ASCQ (Association de Sécurité Civile du Québec) to IAEM-Canada and to investigate a Region for Quebec. J. Smysnuik advised that she had also been in contact with this member regarding French translation for the CEM exam. Due to no movement, I will be stepping in and working with Jennifer and Joël Chéruet, CEM later this month. It is a tough time for membership as budgets are tight, but we do have room for growth. With growth we have a stronger Association and a stronger national presence.

6 EMAP/IAEM-Canada joint venture In an effort to get this item moving forward, with the assistance of John Ash, Past President IAEM-Canada, a letter was prepared to CSA providing them information as to the interest of having EMAP with use of CSA1600 brought to Canada. We also identified the means in which we are able to market the program. When I receive a reply I will keep you informed. Items for IAEM-Canada Board agendas I would like to stress that you are more than welcome to have your ideas, recommendations, and suggestions as part of our Board agendas. However there must be a proper way in which this is accomplished. I have included with this a template of the issue paper used to bring forward ideas to the Board. It is the same format that I must use if I want to bring items forth to the Global Board. Recently we received an that was questionable as to whether this was statement or a recommendation for the Board to consider. If you fill out an issue paper then there is no question. You may submit your papers to your VP or Standing Committee Chair. They will forward the document to our Secretary so that it is included in our agendas. I appreciate your assistance here. As I sum up this message there is just so much happening in our world and in our world of Emergency Management. Never stop being part of the solution of making our citizens better prepared for emergencies and disasters. While your work is not always apparent it is greatly appreciated. Regards Catherine Blair, HBSc, BSc, CEM President, IAEM-Canada. Catherine.blair@mississauga.ca