To Read the Summer 2021 Newsletter
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WEBSITE: http://www.rcmpveteransvancouver.com/ SUMMER 2021 DIVISION PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE: Greetings and salutations to all. As I write this, the temperature in this old house shows 96F. It got to 105F on June 27th inside. Fortunately, there are two bedrooms here with AC Units, in which we are prisoners. In my opinion, we need look a little further for evidence of climate change. The Virtual AGM went ahead very effectively on June 5th. Some of you may have participated in this, as all our membership was welcome. Like any AGM there were items to be voted on, housekeeping if you will. Again, this was done electronically and generally it worked very well. At the conclusion of the meeting, the Division Presidents had a break away meeting. All in all, it was about 2 ½ hours of sitting and watching. As many of you may be aware, this was technically the year we would have hosted the mini-AGM. In my opinion, this virtual meeting was a great and cost-effective way to hold the AGM. Admittedly we missed the opportunity to meet one another and network. Possibly when the full AGMs are held, every third year I believe, these could be in person. These things are presently under consideration. As per usual, your executive is now going into recess for the summer. It is arguable that we have been in recess since Covid began to rear its head, however we have endeavoured to meet regularly on-line and address concerns that arose. At this point we will simply not be meeting until September. Hopefully at that time, in early September, we will meet in person with permission to resume monthly Association meeting of the membership later that month. We shall let you know. In the interim, I would like to remind everyone that you can still contact any of the Executive during the summer as needed our email addresses/numbers are listed on the end of the Newsletter. I hope the weather is not a harbinger of the whole summer. Too much heat is oppressive and restrictive. I wish health and happiness to all and look forward to greeting you all at the waning of summer. Gord Cave, President Vancouver Division NEW RCMPVA ADVERTISING: The advertisement depicted below appeared in the recent edition of the National Association of Federal Retirees magazine. VANCOUVER DIVISION: The Provincial Health Orders have moved to Phase 3 of the Reopening Program for our Province! As of early July, we are able to extend our social bubbles (bearing in mind our own personal boundaries and comfort zone), take part in more social activities and remove those masks (if we so choose). We can get together with friends and family members, who have been in our hearts (through Zoom, Facetime or just a simple phone call) for over a year. By early summer, most should be fully vaccinated (should you choose or your medical situation allow). As we are entering our Summer Break, your Division Executive will not be holding any further virtual meetings and we plan to return to an in person executive meeting in September. The Newsletter will also be taking a summer break, and will continue publication in September/Fall 2021. We were optimistic that our Association would be able to meet in person in September, however, the uncertainty of the move to Phase 4 prompted us to rethink this. The current Covid safety plan at Hazelmere would not have allowed us to hold the type of personal gathering that we would like. Accordingly, our first General Meeting has been booked at Hazelmere for Thursday, October 21st pending a move to Phase 4. Details will be sent in due course. In the mean-time, please stay safe and stay healthy. Just a reminder that some of the Division Executive positions for the 2022-23 term will come open this year. If you are interested in serving on the executive of the Division, please contact Past President Bob Underhill to submit your name. SAVE THE DATE: Listed below are some dates that you may wish to circle on your calendar. Further details pertaining to these events will be forthcoming. Please note that these events will be subject to the Provincial Health Orders that may be in place at the time of the event. October 21: Vancouver Division General Meeting. Hazelmere Golf & Tennis at 11:30 am. Cost to be determined. November 18: Vancouver Division General Meeting. Hazelmere Golf & Tennis at 11:30 am. Cost to be determined. December 3: Vancouver Division Levee. Hazelmere Golf & Tennis Club. Time and cost to be determined. Spouses welcome. December 6: Fraser Valley Veterans Christmas Dinner. Chilliwack Curling Club at 5:00 pm. Cost is $36 per persons. Spouses welcome. LYTTON FIRE: Most of the Village of Lytton was tragically destroyed by a wildfire on June 30, 2021. Along with the residents of the community, the members and staff of the Detachment as well as the widow a retired member and a retired member were impacted by the fire. The “RCMP family” has come together to assist is this tragedy. Vancouver Division will be donating to the relief fund. If you wish to make a personal donation, the directions on how to do so are noted below. President Sandy Glenn has provided the following information, Folks, I want to provide you with more detail with respect to who we are attempting to fund, as it relates to the Lytton fires. There are 5 Regular Members affected; 2 Public Service Employees; 1 RCMP Veteran; and 1 RCMP Veteran’s widow. All have lost their residences and contents, and have only their clothing and other personal possessions they could gather together during the short period of time they had to evacuate. From what I have been told, the Regular Members occupied Force housing in Lytton, and they and their families are now currently being accommodated in RCMP barracks in Chilliwack. They have been granted special leave; and are currently on family relocation expenses. At this point in time, I am not sure how the PSEs are being accommodated. The Veteran’s widow is now living temporarily with her daughter in Vancouver. The RCMP Veteran and his family have temporary accommodations elsewhere. Like the others, they have lost all their possessions. A.P. (Sandy) Glenn, National President RCMP Veterans Association Members Helping Members and Their Families A further addendum to our earlier message (which remains below). Ken Parent advises that the Division cannot issue receipts for donations that are received. If you are going to donate please send it to Ken's email address [email protected] the e-transfer system will not accept his hotmail address. Further to our earlier message regarding donations we are now advised that the RCMPVA Foundation would prefer that all donations (Division and individual) be sent directly to Kamloops Division and not to the Foundation. Instructions for this have been provided by Kamloops Advocate, Bob Stephens as follows: To answer your question, we have set up a separate account within our treasurers account and contributions are being sent by e-transfer to Ken Parent at [email protected], cheques can be sent to: Ken Parent, 2364 Dunrobin Place, Kamloops, BC V1S 1W1. This was the quickest way we could go to get the funds out quickly to our unfortunate folks. Of course, the account is closely monitored by the BOD Kamloops Division and we have full trust in Ken. We will be sending $1000.00 to each of 9 folks affected by the fire beginning today We will send more as funds arrive . Bob Stephens, V/P & Advocate, RCMPVA, Kamloops Division, Kamloops, BC NEW COMMANDING OFFICER “E” DIVISION: Vancouver Division would like to congratulate Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald on his appointment as CO “E” Division. We look forward to working with D/Comm. McDonald on matters of mutual concern. We hope to be able to arrange to have D/Comm. McDonald as a guest at one of our upcoming meetings. The RCMP on June 25th announced the appointment of Assistant Commissioner Dwayne McDonald as the next Commanding Officer of the RCMP in British Columbia and took over command from Deputy Commissioner Jennifer Strachan on July 1st. No decisions have been made yet with respect to a formal change of command ceremony. Deputy Commissioner McDonald’s 26-year career in the RCMP started as a front-line officer with the Burnaby Detachment and includes serving as Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Surrey Detachment. He also served as OIC of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, a senior role with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit and most recently as Criminal Operations Officer, Federal Investigative Services and Organized Crime. D/Comm. Strachan retired after 33 years with the RCMP. She worked in multiple detachments, sections, Provinces and a peace keeping mission in Haiti. When she was named the Commanding Officer of the RCMP in BC, her 13th and now last physical relocation, brought her back home to BC where her policing career started. LINKS TO BULLETINS FROM NATIONAL: Attached are some links from our website for articles that may be of interest to you. 1. How to promote brain health. http://www.rcmpveteransvancouver.com/how-to-promote- brain-health/ 2. Fraudulent go-fund-me for Cst. Patton’s family. http://www.rcmpveteransvancouver.com/fraudulent-go-fund-me-page/ 3. Topics of interest from National. http://www.rcmpveteransvancouver.com/topics-of- interest/ 4. Topics of interest from National. http://www.rcmpveteransvancouver.com/topics-of- interest-2/ VACCINE UPDATE: The vaccination program has ramped up over the past months, with most of our Vets receiving their First Shot and well under way for our 2nd shots.