President’s Report

Wayne Hughes

RTAM President

RETIRED TEACHERS’

ASSOCIATION OF MANITOBA

RETIRED TEACHERS’

ASSOCIATION OF MANITOBA

november 2014

In this position as President, I have found I spend a lot of time “Thanking” people. It may be thanking them for what they have done, are currently doing, or plan to do in the near future. We are fortunate to have so many individuals and groups working in multiple ways to meet the needs of retired teachers across Manitoba and across Canada.

This issue of KIT is no different, except in the numbers. Allow me to start with the largest number. • 1476 individual “Thank you’s” to all the RTAM members who responded to the Volunteer Survey. That number of responses means over 16% of our membership took the time to respond to the survey. Since you took that time, we now have a very reliable study that confirms the high number of volunteer hours given to our communities by retired teachers. You can read some of the highlights in this issue as well as find out the names of the four lucky winners of the $100 gift certificates. You can also read the entire study as written by Prairie Research Associates on our website at www.rtam.mb.ca. • “Thank you” to Judy Olmstead and her Ad Hoc Committee for their work in guiding the study to a successful conclusion. Their work was assisted by the consultations and advice given by Jo-Ann Lauber of the British Columbia Retired Teach-

ers’ Association. Since the surveys were of similar design, we now have two very reliable studies that show how retired teachers in two different provinces continue to contribute to their communities after they retire. • “Thank you” to the 22 members of the Extended Health Benefits Plan who took time to attend the Eldercare information session at the RTAM office on September 17. Jason Hutton from Eldercare gave a very interesting presentation on the services available to them as part of the pilot project sponsored by Johnson Insurance. An article on Eldercare is included in this KIT. • “Thank you” to the Louis Riel Chapter of RTAM for their invitation to attend their meeting on October 2. It was a pleasure to see the many colleagues reconnecting and enjoying a pre-Thanksgiving meal. Congratulations to Jack Fraser who has taken on the Presidency role for the chapter. • “Thank you” to Dennis Kozak and George Takashima for all their efforts in contacting and organizing the RTAM members around Calgary. It looks like we will soon have a new chapter in Alberta. Congratulations! • “Thank you” to MLA Wayne Ewasko who is the Education critic for the PC party for initiating contact with representatives from RTAM. Together with a number of fellow MLAs, Mr. Ewasko was updated on a number