For immediate release: Election for RAC Director Ontario South Region 2019
Deadline for return of ballots is Friday, October 25
https://www.rac.ca/election-for-rac-director-ontario-south-region-2019/
Three nominations have been received for the position of RAC Director for the Ontario South Region.
Following a review of the documentation submitted and taking into account the constitutional and election process requirements, the Election Committee determined that the nomination papers were complete and in order for the following individuals. Their bios are provided below.
- Phil A. McBride, VA3QR/VA3KPJ
- Igor Slakva, VE3ZF/VA3YDX
- Jason Tremblay, VE3JXT
The Committee recommended a Ballot by Mail pursuant to Article 6 (Method of Election) in the RAC Constitution, for the Director for the Ontario South Region.
The closing date for the return of ballots to RAC Headquarters at the address provided below is Friday, October 25 by 12 noon.
Please send the ballots to:
RAC Corporate Secretary
Radio Amateurs of Canada
720 Belfast Road, Suite 217
Ottawa, ON K1G 0Z5
For more information please see the Director’s Nomination Notice on the RAC website at:
https://www.rac.ca/call-for-nominations-of-candidates-for-regional-director/
Alvin (Al) M. Masse, VE3CWP
RAC Corporate Secretary
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Candidate bios:
Phil A. McBride, VA3QR/VA3KPJ
Amateur Radio has been my passion for more than half of my life. First licensed in 1994, I hold my Advanced + CW Operator Certificate, and have recently joined the Quarter Century Wireless Association.
I have been a supporter of RAC since shortly after joining my first Amateur Radio club in 1995 and am currently a Maple Leaf Member. Previous to being elected to the RAC Board of Directors, I have served as both Emergency Coordinator and Assistant Section Manager in the RAC Field Organization.
During my first two terms as Ontario South Director, I have spent as much time as possible meeting and getting to know the Amateurs in my constituent area, and I have worked to solve whatever problems that have been brought to me by the membership. Additionally, I have brought my 19+ years of business experience to the RAC Audit and Finance Committee, where I help to manage the finances of the organization and ensure continued stability and viability.
I have worked with my counterpart in Ontario North-East to ensure that Amateur Radio operators in Ontario retain the ability to operate mobile under Ontario’s Distracted Driving regulations. We were able to secure an extension of the time-limited exemption, and we are looking forward to presenting our case for a permanent exemption with the Ministry of Transportation at the earliest opportunity.
Aside from my responsibilities as a Board member, I am the Training Officer and an active member of the Canadian Forces Affiliate Radio System where I am involved in training DND members in the use of HF radio. More recently, I’ve begun to give introductory talks on Amateur Radio to the cadet corps attached to the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals, and I am actively working with the 33rd RCCS to expose more cadets to the hobby.
I am a member of Scouts Canada and the Contact Scouter for the 1st Acton Scout Troop, where I am in the process of building a permanent Amateur Radio station at the Acton Scout House to give local youth access to a complete HF/VHF/UHF station and to encourage those interested to pursue their Amateur Radio certification. Even though the hobby continues to show steady and healthy growth, I think it is important to continue to expose as many youth as possible to the wonders of Amateur Radio.
As I was in 2016, I am the permit holder, licensee and sole Canadian member of the 2019 CY9C St. Paul Island DXpedition, where we hope to add to the 64,000+ QSOs we made three years ago. I also had the great honour and privilege to operate the commemorative TM100VIMY station at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in Vimy, France in April 2017.
This is the last time I am able to run for this office, and I hope to be returned to it by the membership so that I may continue the important work that RAC does for the Canadian Amateur Radio community and represent those members in Ontario South.
Igor Slakva, VE3ZF/VA3YDX
I set out on my personal Ham Radio journey more than 40 years ago. I received my first call sign when I was 15 as a member of a local radio club in Donetsk, Ukraine. Though just a few years later I not only proudly secured my place in the top 10 SWL of my country, I was entrusted to lead a Donetsk regional SWL club with 4,000 members.
I received the call sign UR3IDX when I entered the Donetsk Technical University and I led a student radio club UR3IWA there. For many years our team was awarded the title of Gold Medalist in various national championships.
I settled down in Canada 20 years ago and during the last 15 years I have organized and launched over 50 DXpeditions, mainly to the Canadian North.
I have built and led various teams that participated in different competitions achieving significant results. In particular, my leadership of the VA3RAC Team has been a key factor in continuously bringing us to the top of the RAC Canada Day Contests for several years.
In pursuing the CQ World Wide DX Contest, I launched and participated in seven DXpeditions to Northern Quebec (Zone 2) and with the call sign VE2IDX, I set 15 records at both the Canadian and North American levels.
In the last five years I completed a VIP Personnel Management training program. Skills that I acquired there, combined with years of extensive experience, allowed me to build a team of 20 rovers – Ham Radio operators capable of developing a mobile radio network in support of emergency and disaster management operations. The efficiency of our network has been recognized by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
In addition to Ham Radio, I actively practise martial arts and enjoy winter swimming at home in the waters of Ontario’s lakes.
Jason Tremblay, VE3XT
My background is in Emergency Services and Security, with success in personal business. I have spent time with the St John Ambulance and then with the Red Cross as an Instructor and a member of Disaster Services, where I learned about working with others and the critical need for great support and defined training systems.
I was licensed in 2014 and since then I have been the Emergency Coordinator for the Barrie, South Simcoe ARES team for three years, working closely with our local communities. During that same time, I was also the Director of Community Services for the Barrie Amateur Radio Club and served most recently as its Vice-President and I worked with the public and community groups and other organizations for public and educational events.
My focus has been on promoting and educating my local communities about Amateur Radio and the benefits of the service in our community. In the last two years I have taken on the role of District Emergency Coordinator for the Lakes District in Ontario.
I spent the last nine months working with Section Managers and Districts, through webinars, to build a stronger foundation in training and communications between ARES teams in Ontario, and encouraging teams to work together to build a unified and accountable training system throughout Ontario.
As a Director, I would like to be able to reach out to the Ham community and build a stronger relationship been them and Radio Amateurs of Canada and continue to work closely with Section Managers in Ontario to help define and build a stronger foundation for Field Services (Event Services, Educational Services and Emergency Services) as there is a need to build all three programs to make this great hobby even better.
I would like to promote Amateur Radio to youth organizations or even look at a youth or cadet program to be attached and promoted by the ARES groups in Ontario.
I would also like to provide a voice in Amateur Radio, not only in world affairs but right here at home, and help all Amateur Radio operators find what they need to succeed, and in turn hope they will then help support this great organization.
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Deadline for Ballots
As indicated above, the closing date for the return of ballots to RAC Headquarters at the address provided below is Friday, October 25 by 12 noon.
Please send the ballots to:
RAC Corporate Secretary
Radio Amateurs of Canada
720 Belfast Road, Suite 217
Ottawa, ON K1G 0Z5
Alvin (Al) M. Masse, VE3CWP
RAC Corporate Secretary