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Last Meeting January 21, 2020
Bill Davidson, President, chaired the meeting and gave the invocation.
Miya Otake & Stephanie Lawton accompanied us with a duet on the harp & piano for the singing of O Canada.
Peter Clarke, Sergeant-at-Arms, introduced visitors and guests.
President's announcements:
- As everyone is certainly aware by now, on January 8th, 2020, a Ukraine International Airline departing from Tehran, carrying 176 passengers, was shot out of the sky, killing all passengers on board. Included in this horrific tragedy were 57 of our fellow Canadian and another 82 who were headed to Canada for education, or other pursuits. The scale of this catastrophe and the nature of the incident has sent shockwaves across the world and more so in Canada as we have lost some of our brightest minds: university professors, doctors, student and philanthropists… and children. Some of the victims were very close to home and other victims came from all across Canada: Manitoba, Ontario, Alberta, Quebec and Nova Scotia.
As Rotarians, this unnecessary and heartbreaking loss of life is beyond what we can ignore and forget about, especially as we travel the world ourselves for business or pleasure. In these times of sorrow I fell it is important for our club to join the voices from across the country and the globe, including our politicians, academics, business leaders and citizens to acknowledge the victims of this epic tragedy and to accept that a similar tragedy could affect us personally.
However, we must also not forget that we are fortunate to live in a safe place and need not live in fear… for that we need to be grateful.
To quote Mahatma Gandhi, “You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”
Amin Eskooch added that the Iranian community has been greatly impacted by this terrible incident. It is important for everyone to acknowledge the grief and honour the memory of all who were lost. Thank you.
Parisa Adrangi expressed her thankfulness for the safety of living here in Canada.
- We received a thank you card, via Katherine Copeland, for the funds raised and donated to a family in need at Christmas. (see detail above)
Secretary's announcements provided by Parisa Adrangi:
- reminders of upcoming events/meetings (see above)
- birthdays: Ralf Behringer Jan 24th, Justin Emilio Jan 26th, Kaz Kadono Jan 27th
- member anniversaries: Kamyar Asadibeiky 2 years
- wedding anniversaries: Gabrielle & Charron Kalfon 49 years Jan 23rd
Special announcements and members' moments:
- Paul Harris recipient:
- Gerry Glazier attended the Britannia Invitational Basketball Tournament last weekend. It was a couple of years ago now that our club started funding the team. They are doing great with great outcomes for the boys. The Board has approved to provide an annual grant to the boys team in the amount of $5,000 from the money given to us from Don Kavanagh's estate. These funds are specifically to be used for youth initiatives.
We have finally received this year's gaming grant for our Community Service committee. It is $33,000, all of which will be put to good use helping our local community.
- Jason Boudreau was interviewed by Franco Gallo
- A few notes from his interview:
- Last year saw a lot of changes in Jason's business, including moving the North Van from downtown.
- The firm is dedicated to philanthropy and community support
- Jason started his professional life training as a red seal chef, completing the 7,000 hour apprenticeship program. He realized through that process he didn't want to be a chef for life and through an uncle moved into the world of insurance/investment.
- People who had the biggest impact on his life were his parents - living with his mom until he was 10 and then his dad until he was 20. Each parent taught him such valuable life lessons and values that he holds dear in his everyday life. In his professional life he has had and continues to have a few fantastic mentors and coaches, some of which have become partners.
- Jason highly recommends the Landmark Vanto group coaching program. Well worth investing in for yourself and your employees. (CLICK HERE for more info.)
- Jason believes that as a leader he sets the tone of his company's culture. His style is one of servant-leadership. The best leaders hire the best people then get out of their way.
- His company holds an annual event, Gravity, with the goal of creating a community to facilitate connections. They start with people, the personal, then evolve to business.
- There are exciting times ahead for his business: selling a piece of the business to his partner, Rob, and forming a strategic alliance with Harness Investment Management Inc.
Program:
Fred West introduced speaker, Dr. Gary Bull, Department Head, Forest Management, UBC. Dr. Bull initially trained as an accountant but didn’t like it much so chose a second path in forestry. He grew to combine the two disciplines and has the expertise in forestry economics.
Dr. Bull is very enthusiastic about the future of forestry despite the current challenges – fires, pine beetle, mill closures, worker strikes, and climate change. Forestry exports have flat-lined over the last 10 years or so.
He is a huge fan of technology. What it brings to the table is the ability to transform the industry for the better. Some examples:
- Innovative startup in Revelstoke, Advanced Biocarbon 3-D, (CLICK HERE for more info). This timber mill keeps the wood’s carbon locked up and provides a substitute for steel and concrete.
- In Finland, leaders in the industry, the Äänekoski Bioproduct Mill is the largest wood-processing plant in the Northern Hemisphere. The new Äänekoski mill is called a bioproduct mill since it is increasing the product portfolio with new bioproducts, generating excess bioenergy, and using no fossil fuels. (CLICK HERE for more info)
- The METSÄ GROUP – per their website: Climate change is a global problem, and reducing emissions necessary in all aspects of life. When it comes to living and construction, one solution is superior to others: wood. (CLICK HERE for more info)
- Södra, in Sweden, believes the future is made of trees and is coming up with innovative solutions such as, a unique solution that will enable circular flows in the fashion and textile industry that will fully recycle fabrics on a large scale. (CLICK HERE for more info)
- Denmark has a target to be completely fossil fuel free by 2050. Avedøre Power Station, the largest power station in Denmark, is now producing electricity from wood pellets and straw. This plant alone provides heat for more than 215,000 households in greater Copenhagen without using any coal or gas. (CLICK HERE for related article)
- Drax Group, in England, believes that “sustainable forest biomass in the form of compressed wood pellets, plays a vital role in our departure from coal, enabling a zero carbon, lower cost energy future.” (CLICK HERE for more info)
There are a number of local, BC, innovative technology-based manufacturers, architects, and engineers working towards an improved sustainable industry and positive impact on climate change. These include:
- Structurecraft, in Abbotsford, (CLICK HERE for more info)
- Structurlam, in Penticton, (CLICK HERE for more info)
- Kalesnikoff, in Castlegar, (CLICK HERE for more info)
- Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc., in Prince George, (CLICK HERE for more info)
- Pacific BioEnergy, in Vancouver, (CLICK HERE for more info)
- Acton Ostry Architects Inc., in Vancouver (CLICK HERE for more info)
- Michael Greene Architect, in Vancouver, (CLICK HERE for more info)
- Fast + Epp Structural Engineers, (CLICK HERE for more info)
UBC is at the forefront of innovation with the UBC Bioproducts Research Institute. Its divisions include world class experts in the fields of biochemicals, bioplastics, bioenergy, biofuels, and biomaterials. There are many who are agents of change from First Nations, to Millenia, to tech companies, and on.
As they say, what goes around comes around. Our forefathers, some of us our grandfathers, lived in a world largely without carbon emissions. We are once again moving towards that again with the embracing of technologies to get us to somewhere much cleaner. With better and greater forest management, the future is bright.
In closing: Wood is Good!
Meeting adjourned with a toast to cooler heads getting together to sort out a western forest deal.
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Bill Maclagan Q.C. is a tax lawyer with Blake, Cassels & Graydon, LLP in Vancouver. For over 16 years, Bill was the Managing Partner of Blakes. Amongst his many community activities, he has been with the Board of Vancouver Opera since 2015 and has been Chair since 2018. He is also a former Rotary Exchange Student and Rotarian.
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