Meet the New CPS Board Members

 

Nov 22, 2018

At the recent Ottawa Annual General Meeting six new Directors were acclaimed to the CPS-ECP Board, together with Bob Parke and Nancy Richards returning to the Board for a new term.

The new Directors……….

John (Jack) Adams

John (Jack) Adams is Commander of the Sunshine Coast Squadron on the West Coast of Canada. He was born in Halifax Nova Scotia. Jack first learnt to sail before he reached High School, and later raced as a crewmember on a larger vessel.

 

He hadn’t known of CPS-ECP then, but did eventually take his first course in 2006. Jack has been a member of CPS ever since, serving in his local Squadron as Administration Officer, Education officer and Commander. Prior to retiring to the Coast, he served for more than thirty years, first as a consultant, later as a Diplomat with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). He and his wife, Marilyn were posted to various Latin American and African countries, owning two cruising sloops, the first in Dar es Salaam, where they lived for three years; the second on the Sunshine Coast, on the doorstep of some of the most scenic cruising grounds in the world.

Jack describes himself as an enthusiastic supporter of CPS-ECP and as a new Director looks forward to the challenge of finding new ways to continue improving the added value of membership in this organization.

C. Guy Cooper

Guy has been involved with Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons for 17 years. Guy and his wife took the Boating Course after realizing their sailing skills were missing key information about aids to navigation and basic boating skills. They enjoyed the course and subsequently took Piloting and Advanced Piloting.

Guy was invited to join the Norvan Power and Sail Squadron Executive Committee and later became Squadron Commander. He has served on the Pacific Mainland District Bridge for nine years as Membership Officer and Public Relations Officer.

He has worked on numerous national committees and is currently Past Commander of one the newest and largest squadrons in CPS-ECP, the North Shore Power and Sail Squadron – an amalgamated Squadron formed from three adjacent squadrons on the North Shore of Vancouver. Guy enjoys boating in the tranquil waters of the Pacific Northwest.

 

Jean-Robert Lavergne

Jean-Robert had the opportunity to sail as a kid. His father bought a little cedar dinghy, equipped with a removable mast, one sail, and a dagger board. The stronger the wind the better it was as far as Jean-Robert was concerned. Later on, sailing with others, he discovered that people needed to be taught how to handle a sailboat. That was the beginning for him in recognising the importance of teaching.

He returned to his hometown in 1994 and with a friend decided to learn more about navigation. His CPS-ECP life began with the local squadron and he took courses up to Advanced Piloting. Later, he became more involved and volunteered with Escadrille Saguenay, eventually became Training Officer. His roles at the District Level have included Financial Officer and District Commander, actively supporting the Squadrons within the District. At the end of his term he then returned to the Financial Officer role and subsequently back again as District Commander and Chair of the 2014 Conference local committee.

Jean-Robert (known to many as J.R.) joined the National Educational Department as Course Director for all Electronic Courses. For the last two years, he has been active as an Assistant National Educational Officer in the Department for Course delivery. As a new Director, he brings his commitment to training and his insight regarding the major changes that the Educational Department has to face to stay the best among the players in the boating training organizations.

James E. Lee

Despite knowing a little about “The Power Squadron” Jim had absolutely no idea what this organization really did. Being an avid fisherman when the Pleasure craft operator’s card came into play he immediately sat down at the Sportsman’s show and took the test – no studying and passing easily.

That summer after a couple of adventures on the water he realized that he wasn’t part of the boating safety solution, but an addition to the problem. The idea of increasing safety on the water by better educating boaters really appealed to Jim and so he became a member of CPS-ECP in 2008 after having taken the old Boating course. He was quickly recruited as the Squadron Membership Officer, followed in quick succession as Executive Officer, and then Squadron Commander.

Jim then made the leap to the District Level as Educational Officer and then leapfrogged into the District Commanders chair. He is now Past District Commander of Quinte District and currently Educational Officer of his home Peterborough Squadron. On a personal level, Jim has worked for IBM for 32 years in their service organization, including strategic planning and project management.

He comes to the Board as a new Director with strong links to all levels of the organization.

Luc Lussier

Luc has been sailing for twenty-five years and from the beginning considered that good training in navigation was important, both for him and for his passengers, to ensure safe boating. He chose CPS-ECP and has taken several courses.

He quickly got involved in CPS-ECP by becoming, among other things, Commander of the Le Marinier Squadron, then Commander of Cartier District. Luc has also been president of the Joint Committee of the Montreal Boat Show.

As a new Director he brings his strong academic background in applied sciences and management, which has led him to pursue careers in large companies at the highest positions. Luc has experience as Chair of several national and international organizations.

He has a commitment to the community, which has led him to work as a volunteer for aid agency groups such as the United Way and other social inclusion institutions.

Ian Munro

After completing the old Boating course in Burlington in 2007 Ian was impressed with CPS-ECP. Because he enjoyed the people around him and the courses CPS-ECP offered, he subsequently kept taking them until he reached Senior Navigator level. He admits that it is unlikely you will see him plotting his position with a sextant on Lake Ontario but that is what he likes about CPS-ECP – a wide variety of high quality courses are available to anyone, even just for interest sake.

When the Squadron Commander originally approached him about joining the “Bridge”, he wasn’t quite sure what that was, but after going to a few meetings he got hooked. Ian joined the Burlington Bridge and with the usual exchanging of roles eventually became Squadron Commander and then Niagara District Commander. He has been, and continues as an Instructor.

On a personal level, he has held a position as Senior Manager of Mechanical Engineering of Fossil and Hydro Generation at a major power company. He is a former Chairman of an international research organization of hydroelectric power companies, a former Vice Chairman of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers where he continues as an Officer.
Ian and his wife Ingrid, have a Catalina 310 sail boat “Island Dreamer” which they sail out of the Fifty Point Yacht Club on western Lake Ontario.

As a new Director he brings his memory that when he took my first course he had to hunt for something called “The Power Squadron”. And so he is committed to working to make CPS-ECP more visible and accessible to the boating public as Canada’s premier safe boating education organization. He would also like to make sure our volunteers are enjoying themselves. They are the basis of CPS-ECP doing all the work with students and members and everything depends on all our efforts.

Marilyn McBeath

National Secretary, Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons