By Jean Côté, Quebec Division Board Member (jean.cote@skipatrol.ca)
As summer draws to a close, Quebec Division is already hard at work preparing for the busy recertification period. Although activities have never really stopped since the end of the ski season, division zone presidents recently held their first face-to-face meeting since the beginning of the pandemic. Of the 14 presidents, ten made the trip, some were present online all day, and one even made the 1,600-km round trip to reconnect with colleagues. Now, that’s commitment.
As is true throughout the CSP, the commitment, the energy, and the collaboration of the members are certainly key elements of our success. Indeed, they are the common thread that has emerged in what characterizes each zone.
Virtual meetings are certainly efficient and less expensive, but seeing people in person allowed us to reconnect and share our passion once again. A desire to create strong and rallying moments truly emerged from this meeting. For this reason, we revisited the format of our annual division meeting to keep the clerical and administrative aspects virtual (i.e. AGM, elections, etc.) and to promote activities accessible to all (i.e. first aid and skiing competitions, on-snow training, recognition award night, etc.) The division’s budget was even structured to redistribute the surplus from the past years related to COVID, to lower participation fees.
In addition, to support our members, the division will take the critical incident stress management (CISM) team to the next level through team training (instead of individual coaching).
Quebec Division is made up of 14 zones, each with its distinctive characteristics. Highlights include:
- Quebec Zone is almost 100 per cent made up of Nordic skiing.
- Mauricie Zone is the only one providing first aid in remote areas of a national park year-round.
- Gatineau Zone is renowned for its 365 events activities, covering multiple festivals and professional team sports games throughout the year.
- Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean Zone, the largest in the division with 450 km between its stations (resorts), is hoping to finally host the division meeting after trying for three years. (The two planned previous ones were cancelled due to COVID.)
- Laurentian Zone is the birthplace of the CSP in Quebec, along with Eastern Townships and Baie Comeau Zones, which have existed for more than 60 years.
- Eastern Townships Zone has many members involved throughout the division and national levels who have added fun to the three CSP values: passionate, proud and professional.
- Chaudiere-Appalache Zone is the latest established (2021) and is already well-structured and organized.
- All the other zones that are taking the CSP values to heart.
Together, we welcome the beginning of this new season with our very best intentions in cooperation, respect for our efforts, and the need for balance among each of our volunteers.
This post is also available in: French