Vancouver Area Council Presidents Report

Cheers to Jamey Mills, President of the Vancouver Area Council, who presented this report at the AGM held in October.

Thank you all for attending and thank you for supporting me over the past year as Vancouver Area Council President. I, again as last year would like to thank you for volunteering in your workplaces and communities.

I would like to start with a moment of silence to commemorate our fellow members who have been killed or injured in the past year.

No different than my last annual report we are seeing the erosion of democracy in our country. We are seeing attacks on workers in the form of Back-to-work legislation at Air Canada and unreasonable arbitration at Canada Post.  We are also seeing how the Federal Budget cuts are affecting Canada.

As if Listeriosis wasn`t enough we have seen further reductions at the CFIA and now the largest recall of meat in Canadian history. We are seeing Coast Guard bases such as Kitsilano being closed while their usefulness is in the news almost daily. Today they responded to a distress in False Creek that the hovercraft in Richmond would not have resolved without dire consequences.

I am glad to see Parliamentary Budget Officer, Kevin Page, demanding details on you these cuts, referred to as savings, are affecting Canada as Canadians deserve to know. To date most departments have not complied.

In parliament we continue to see regressive attacks on us, such as Bill C 45, which will change how large agencies report and increases to retirement benefits.

Like in past years, we need to get beyond this. Now more than ever we need to mobilize. Mobilize our workplaces, our locals, our friends, our families and our communities. We need Canada to know that we aren`t going away. No matter how bad the cuts we will be there making Canada better for all Canadians.

This year we elected a new Federal Leadership at our convention. I am echoing statements I have heard both Robyn and Chris make. I again thank you for sending me as a delegate on behalf of our Area Council. I ensured to lobby on issues that affect our region and spoke specifically to our resolution and it passed with near unanimous support.

As a council we need to put our heads together and come with ways to engage our members and communities around these important issues that affect ALL. We are all affected!!

I will be putting my name forward again as Area Council President and I would appreciate you support.

In Solidarity,

Jamey Mills