A holiday message from the president
The holiday season can be difficult, and I think many of us become melancholic during this time of the year. For me, my favourite holiday memories date back to when I was a young boy (and that was a long, long time ago) participating in my school’s choir (it was an all-boys school at that time). I went to bed at 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve because I had to get up at 11 p.m. in order to get to the church to sing at the midnight mass. We sang with an adult choir, but the boy’s choir always stole the show. After the ceremony, many of the choirboys returned home to their families to take part in réveillon (a festive late-night feast, which is a tradition for many French Canadians). However, in our home, we didn’t celebrate réveillon and instead went to bed at the usual time. I also remember that it always snowed on Christmas Eve. Of course, I didn’t sleep and got up very early to exchange gifts. We weren’t a rich family, so gifts were simple and inexpensive but the experience of opening them alongside my loved ones was priceless.
Now, let’s fast forward to the present day. Things have changed, of course, but for most of us, the joy at the heart of the holiday season is still there. Many retirees can be said to have Christmas spirit all year long because we generously share our skills and give our time to organizations and charities. Here, I’m thinking especially of our Association volunteers who are engaged and committed to the Association and its work. Their gift of giving is ensuring that the National Association of Federal Retirees continues to be vibrant and growing. In travelling and meeting our volunteers across the country, I find that most of them volunteer with other organizations as well and are truly dedicated to making a difference in their communities.
The holiday season is also a time for reflection; we reflect on the past twelve months and look ahead to the coming year. As your Association president, I’m a volunteer too. While I don’t receive a salary, I consider the opportunity to meet with appreciative members and volunteers who are grateful for our achievements to be my compensation. We have done a lot over the past year and you need only visit our news feed or open an issue of Sage magazine to see all the challenges we’ve faced and the successes we’ve had. As part of the Federal Retirees community, our most important gift is the one we give ourselves: the protection of our pensions and benefits and our work to improve the lives of seniors and retirees across the country.
My wishes for the New Year:
To Federal Retirees members, I wish for you to stay involved with the protection of our pensions and benefits and that each of you recruits at least one retiree to join the Association and strengthen our voice.
To the Federal Retirees board of directors, I wish for you to continue to give your time and energy to help the Association reach its full potential.
To politicians of all stripes, I wish for you to listen to seniors, heed their concerns and agree to develop a national seniors strategy.
To the minister of finance, I wish for you to have the wisdom not to introduce another Bill C-27.
To federal retirees who are not yet members of the Association, I wish for you to realize that the National Association of Federal Retirees is your best insurance plan when it comes to protecting your rights, your pension and your benefits.
To the staff of the national office, I wish for you to maintain the high level of support you provide to members, to the national board and to branches.
My sincere best wishes to all of you.
Jean-Guy Soulière
A holiday message from the CEO
As I look out the window today, Ottawa looks anything but Christmas-like. We had an early deep freeze and snow dump, and now we have rain.
Christmas for me is synonymous with winter; I’ve been in Florida and Australia in December and something just doesn’t feel right. I once went to the Dominican Republic for Christmas and, while I love a beach as much as anyone else, somehow warm sun, warm sand and warm water just doesn’t feel right on Dec. 25. My ideal Christmas Day is waking up to everything covered with a layer of light fluffy snow that fell overnight (maybe I’ve looked at too many Hallmark cards).
Last night I started my Christmas decorations and made my mincemeat. Feeling warm and cozy at home, getting ready to share time with family and loved ones, taking a step back from our hectic lives, this is what I enjoy about Christmas. Not everyone celebrates Christmas and many who do celebrate the more cultural rather than religious aspects of it, but for me, Christmas is more than a tree or a candy cane and it is something more—or perhaps it is something less—than presents and a frenzy of buying.
Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, and whether you are at home in Canada or somewhere exotic and warm, I wish you peace, joy and happiness now and throughout 2020.
Simon Coakeley