December 27/04 4:18 am - CC A President's Report

Posted by Editor on 12/27/04
 

CCA President's Holiday Greetings, 2004 Annual Report, and AGM Notes
Courtesy Bill Kinash

As 2004 comes to an end I would like to extend seasons greetings to everyone who has helped make this past season such a success. Congratulations to all of the athletes who represented Canada with pride and achieved many outstanding results. Thank you to all of the volunteers and staff who helped with the many Team Canada projects. I would also like to thank all of the thousands of supporters here in Canada who are behind the athletes and who helped put on events from grassroots club racing right up to international events. You all play an vital role in helping our sport succeed and thrive.

My 2004 Annual Report, as presented at the AGM, is posted on the CCA website: www.canadian-cycling.com/English/other/prnovember04_agm_president_report.htm. Please read this report and feel free to call or email me at bkinash@accesscomm.ca with feedback now, or anytime of the year. Do remember that since we changed the governance structure two years ago, the role of the President and the Board, is now mainly strategic, and we work through the Director General (or COO,) who is responsible for all operations.

The CCA AGM was held a month ago in Toronto and here are only a few comments on the weekend. Watch for a detailed communiqué which will report on the many decisions made at the meetings. First, I want to thank the OCA for hosting the Cycling Celebration at the Olympic Spirit facility. The OCA put on a great show, with a long list of distinguished presenters and recipients, and I was impressed by the huge crowd of supporters. The other highlight of the weekend was likely the strategic planning session facilitated by Rose Mercier. Rose used a unique format to involve the fifty or so participants in a brainstorming session that provided many ideas that will be used as input into the next stages of planning. The entire weekend was packed with meetings and we plan to review the purpose and format for the 2005 AGM. We were also faced with financial reporting limitations and have taken corrective action by purchasing updated accounting software. The audited financial statement will be completed early in the new year.

The AGM elections ended the weekend. John Tolkamp was returned to the Board for a second term and is joined by three new members: Andrew Feenstra, Kevan MacNaughton, and Aaron Hershoff. Retiring from the Board are three long term volunteers that I would very much like to thank: Loyal Ma, Pierre Thibault, and Brian Jolly. There were two changes in committee chairs with Henry Pejril taking on the Events Committee while Louis Barbeau moves to High Performance. I welcome everyone to their positions and know that we've got very strong and experienced people in our leadership positions. I would also like to thank Curt Harnett, who retired from the HP Committee Chair position.

I would summarize this year by saying that change has been slower than we planned but we have still made major strides and have 'turned the corner.' Last year we focused on the governance transition while this year we shifted to resolving staffing issues. The pace of change was also impacted by the extra demands on our resources to host the 2003 World's and to prepare for the 2004 Olympics. I am confident that we are now building a team with enthusiastic and capable people and expect 2005 to be even better!

Bill Kinash
CCA President