GBA Update - Summer 2020

4 ≥ www.georgianbay.ca GBA UPDATE Summer 2020 John Carson expresses extensive thanks to three directors who left the Board as of the AGM Thank You for Making a Huge Difference By John Carson, GBA President ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING John McMullen of Bayfield-Nares went above and beyond the call of duty on behalf of GBA over many years. He served on many GBA committees, including Government Affairs, Water Levels and Governance, as well as the Executive Committee. He led the 100 th Anniversary committee and acted as executive vice president for two years before taking the helm as president in 2015-16. When Bob Duncanson retired as executive director, John chaired the search committee to find a new ED and almost single-handedly coordinated the process, ensuring it ran very smoothly. When Rupert was selected as the new ED and stepped down as president early, John filled the breach by resuming the president’s seat for another year, once again putting a steady hand on the wheel of the GBA ship. John has contributed a huge amount of time working with the Northern Georgian Bay Association on the proposed Wiikwemkoong land claim settlement in the Killarney area. After stepping down as president, John kindly agreed to stay on the Board and on our Executive Committee for another year, despite having considerable other volunteer work with Bayfield-Nares Islanders’ Association (BNIA) and the Canadian Safe Boating Council. He is now president of BNIA and continues to dedicate his time to important causes. Thank you, John, for all you have done for GBA on so many fronts! Marc Cooper of West Carling served for nine years on the Board, including on our Executive Committee. Marc really made his mark (sorry) with outstanding contributions to GBA’s communications program, applying his top-notch marketing expertise. He was instrumental in spearheading innovations and major improvements like revising our communications strategy, launching the eUpdate email newsletter and new social media channels. With support from his team at the Junction59 agency where he is president, Marc led a complete overhaul of the GBA website, bringing its presentation and tools into the 21 st century. The firm also offers a flexible website solution to all GBA member associations at cost and hosts the eUpdate subscription service. We are extremely grateful that Marc has promised to continue to make Junction59’s support and services available to GBA so we can continue to communicate with members using a range of leading-edge and professional tools. Claudette Young of South Channel is retiring from our Board (for the second time!) and most importantly, as the longstanding and outstanding chair of the GBA Aquaculture Committee. Claudette has dedicated 20 years of her time as a tireless and committed volunteer, organizing and motivating a similarly dedicated and experienced team of experts and professionals in the field of fisheries and the environment to inform GBA’s extensive advocacy submissions to governments on aquaculture issues in Georgian Bay and the North Channel. Claudette has exemplified the best in volunteerism, which is the backbone of GBA. Her dedication, hard work and passion for the cause of protecting the Bay’s clean waters is inspiring. She has put in a lot of very hard work and countless hours just in the past year, and her enthusiasm for the cause continues undiminished to this day – she has volunteered to continue to act as interim chair of the Aquaculture Committee while we seek to renew it. Thanks a million Claudette!