RCO Meeting June 1, 2020
Rotary Club of Oakville
Meeting of June 1, 2020 – via ZOOM
By George Vincent
The meeting was called to order by President Rod Craig at 7:00 pm with a toast to Queen and Canada. The blessing was provided by Richard Roberts
Attendance:
A total of 25 people signed into the zoom meeting including 6 guests:
- Reena – a potential new member
- Vivian – a potential new member
- Birgit – Belleville Rotary Club
- John Millar – Water First
- Cody Avery – Water First
- Larry Whalen from Sioux Ste. Marie
Announcements:
Rudy mentioned that Burlington will be hosting a zone meeting
President Elect Mike Henry reminded everyone of the importance of committee work and asked everyone to respond to him with their committee preference for the 2020/2021 Rotary year.
Happy Bucks:
Happy bucks were introduced to our ZOOM format for the first time at this meeting by Larry. Everyone will keep track of their contributions and settle with the treasurer when we are all back together.
- Larry was happy that we were expanding our ZOOM meeting content and getting back to happy bucks
- Frank was happy as he got to see a dentist relatively quickly for a chipped tooth
- Rudy was happy regarding the successful Presidents meeting he had attended
- Judy was happy that Birgit joined us and that Belleville has been open and inviting with some of their community outreach approaches
- George V was happy regarding the virtual Kitchen Party hosted by the Rotary Clubs of London
- Mike H was happy that he was receiving enthusiastic response regarding committee participation
- Rod was happy that Julie’s birthday “month” was beginning
Mahendra introduced a number of our guests including
- John Miller – our guest speaker from Water First. John is the founder and Executive Director of Water First an organization dedicated to addressing water challenges in first nation communities across Canada with a focus on water treatment plants
- Cody Avery also from Water First
- John Whelan a friend of Mahendra’s who is a former federal judge from Sioux Ste. Marie and active in the Kiwanis Club and their FN service.
John Millar took us through the work of Water First and opened his comments by expressing appreciation to RCO for the support we have provided.
John took us through a refresher on the Water Treatment Operator internship program wherein FN youth are recruited and supported as they train and intern as water plant operators. The 15-month program includes centralized training, a paid internship, follow-up training and return to the community to be part of the water treatment team
A pilot project on Manitoulin Island involved 7 First nations and resulted in 10 graduates of the program. 9 of the 10 found work at water treatment facilities and all but one was local to their home communities – the one exception moved due to a personal preference. Leveraging the pilot learnings a program is underway in the Kenora district.
Water First provides graduates a certificate as Operator in Training and supports the candidates through the 4 levels of operator certification. Water first would like to scale the program up to increase their impact while at the same time become less reliant on government funding.
The many questions and dialogue following John’s presentation are a testimony to the interest in the content and topic area. Questions ranged from how Water First originated, their collaborative approaches with both equipment and service providers through to the level of advocacy training included in the Water First program. . question and answer followed John’s presentation
Tareq thanked John for his presentation noting that the Water First approach is very aligned with Rotary principles.
Next Meeting
- June 15 – ZOOM – Club Turnover
- June 29 – ZOOM – Tye Farrow
President Rod closed the meeting with a toast to friends and Rotarians around the world.
