Retrospect for June 7, 2013
by Winter, Debbie
The meeting was opened by President Brad Whittaker with the singing of O Canada and grace by Graham Yates.
Thank you to past president Barrie McMaster for running last weeks meeting and thanks to past president Kevin Wood for representing our club at City Council for the Rotary Christmas parade. We will be one of four clubs to host the New Zealand Friendship exchange September 18 to 22. Please email President Brad if you would like to host. Welcome Stephanie Crane, a former Rotary Exchange daughter who is visiting from Australia. Welcome back to John Kovacs who was convalescing for the past 4+ months.
Visiting Rotarians were introduced by Robin Klassen and a welcome to Honorary Rotarians Charlie Young and Joy St. John. Ron MacLeod carried the roving mike for Rotarians to introduce their guests, which included our son Jonas. Congrats to Jonas for receiving an Academic Excellence award from Sardis Secondary School.
Ron Arnett reported on Rotarians, noting that Ted Mattice is at home with a broken shoulder. Happy anniversary to Harry and Kathy Mertin, celebrating 35 years.
Carol Tichelman presented an honorary Paul Harris Fellow award to our own Debora Soutar. Carol outlined the history of the award which was to recognize humanitarian and educational contributions. Deb exemplifies this. Debora has lived in Chilliwack since age 10, has been married to Bill for 32 years and is the proud mom to three boys. She is a Registered Professional Forester and her many volunteer efforts in addition to Rotary include Gwyn Vaughn Park, Great Blue Heron Reserve, Association of Friends of the Frog, Meals on Wheels, Knock and Walk, Chilliwack United Church (choir, member of future planning committee), Scout Leader, Chilliwack Exhibition and PEO Sisterhood (providing educational opportunities for females worldwide). Debora has contributes to Rotary at the local, district and international level. Already having received a financial PHF, Deb now joins the elite ranks of Honorary Paul Harris Fellows! Congratulations Debora!
John Hayhow reported on the results of the 7th Annual Rotary Scholarship Golf Tournament. There were 132 golfers and Cameron Wilson’s Group took top prize. Since Richard Procee was also a golfer, the event was not without controversy - perhaps we need to provide Richard with the 4-Way Test information, yet again! It looks like this event will net around $20,000 (WOW!). A Thank-you to committee members, sponsors (Barton Hub International , Scotiabank, Mertin Auto Group, Investors Group, Murray Honda, Stander & Company, Chilliwack Golf & Country Club, 89.5 the Hawk and The Chilliwack Progress). Thank you to the 50/50 Volunteers and the Golf Ball Drop volunteers (912 tickets sold)!
Jonas Zimmer noted that Thursday June 13th is an Interact Fundraiser - $11.50 for a movie, drink and popcorn at the Cottonwood 4 Cinemas. Of this amount $3 will go to the Gulu Uganda project. No purchases required in advance – just show up at the theatre, pay, and enjoy!
Dianne Darke reported on the Garden Tour. Steve Whysall of the Vancouver Sun previewed three of our gardens and was quite impressed. An E-ticketing system will be set up to purchase tickets on-line. Only 46 tickets have been sold to Rotarians – note that this is a FUNDRAISING event, not a community service event – please support this event!
Debora’s Secretary report – thank you from Lorna McLaren for the honorary PHF award, 2 tickets available for the Senior Star Event on June 19th, Youth Exchange meeting after lunch next week (June 14th), reminder of the Kingston Rotary Club fundraiser to send native youth to RI Conference and still time to join the World’s Largest Commercial. There was an awkward silence when Deb noted Robert Adams was soon to take her place. Happy Birthday to Harry Mertin, John Kovacs, Joy St. John, Suzanne Adams and Victor Froese.
Paul Boileau introduced guest speaker Pierre Gratton, CEO of the Mining Association of Canada (“MAC”). MAC membership is conditional – all members have to commit towards sustainable mining and are evaluated each year on their environmental footprint, energy efficiency and community and people interaction. The results are verified by a third party.
The mining industry (including extraction, smelting, refining) employ over 330,000, pays over $9 billion in taxes and royalties to the government, invests over $22 Billion in capital and is the largest private sector employer of aboriginal people. There are 350 agreements between mining companies and aboriginal communities in Canada, and a growing number of agreements in BC.
Canada attract 16% of world exploration, 9% of Canadian Direct investment abroad is from mining and the TSX exchange has an efficient process for mining companies. The long-term for mining is positive – the recent downturns due to the Europe crisis and China downturn is only temporary. China consumes 40% of world base metals.
There is an estimated $40 billion to be invested in Canada in the next 5 to 10 years. BC is the third largest jurisdiction, having over $8.5 billion in value in 2011 and Vancouver is a global centre for mining. Pierre provided examples of current mining projects in BC, including the Taseko Gibraltar Mine in Williams Lake. The mine made purchases of $90 million in BC, 96% of the wages paid are to people that live in the community and donated over $1 million to the community. There are 20 major mines operating in BC. Mines are rare to find, but when found, they are long term - minimum one generation.
John Foreman thanked Pierre.
Reminders – Garden Tour on June 22nd, Year in Review is on June 28th, Installation on July 5th, and if you are interested in hosting some of the New Zealanders, please email President Brad.
The Queen.
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