Season’s greetings from Association president and CEO

Warmest wishes for a joyous holiday season and a happy New Year from the National Association of Federal Retirees.
 

To each and every one of our members, thank you for choosing to be a part of our Association. Your support means everything to us and is the only reason we can continue our work — fighting to protect hard-earned pensions and to improve the state of retirement for all Canadians.

Our president, Roy Goodall, and CEO, Anthony Pizzino, have written letters to express their holiday wishes in their own words, reflecting on their gratitude for the Federal Retirees community and the wonderful things we have accomplished together.

A holiday message from the president

It is my hope that this year’s holiday season will be a memorable one for you, your family and your friends. For many members, two parts of the holidays are memorable, each with clearly distinctive aspects. The first part is usually remembered for excited children and grandchildren with glowing eyes and unbridled curiosity, and meals with immediate and extended family. The second part is usually remembered for everything associated with saying goodbye to the old year and ringing in the new year!

This year, we have an opportunity to mend family and friend relationships stressed by all things associated with COVID-19. The restrictions imposed during the pandemic led to family divisions, ended friendships and created difficulties for many, if not most, of us. Now that the imposed restrictions and pressures have ended, we can mend relationships and celebrate with people important to us, especially those who may not be as close as we were before COVID-19. Life is too short to hold on to such misunderstandings, grudges or things said in frustration or anger. Whether together, in-person or online, we should all try to make this holiday season special by considering the importance of our families, friendships and communities. If you have the capacity to assist those facing incredible challenges while they try to survive these stressful, inflationary times, please consider volunteering in your community and lend a helping hand to those who could use one. We will remember and cherish rebuilding family, friends and community relationships for decades to come.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Roy Goodall

A holiday message from the CEO

Dear members,

December is upon us and 2022 is coming to a close. When I look back on the past year, there are a number of reasons to count it as a good one and yet I predict next year will be even better.

Above all, we’ve done a lot this past year in terms of growing our membership and improving our visibility, both on Parliament Hill, in the provincial corridors of power and in households across the country.

As an organization, we’ve also had a number of wins this year, including:

• Renewing the Public Service Health Care Plan (PSHCP), which enacted a number of positive changes we know members wanted and needed;
• Joining the Canadian Coalition Against Ageism, which will lobby for increased awareness of ageism and work towards the eradication of the problem;
• Launching and completing the branch core services survey and consulting with board members, branch presidents and volunteers on its findings;
• Working with the special committee on branch financing; and,
• Holding our first in-person annual meeting of members (AMM) since 2019.

And that’s just to name a few. In addition, we have new senior leadership at the board level with the election of president Roy Goodall and vice-president Hélène Nadeau. Though I knew them both before as they both served on the board, it’s been a pleasure to get to know them both better since their elections

We will be busy in 2023 with a number of initiatives to make federal retirees stronger.

In the meantime, I wish you all a restful and joyous Christmas and holiday season and a very happy new year.

Stay safe and take good care,

Anthony Pizzino