The Rotary Sunrise Club hosted the Annual Rotary Joint Luncheon Meeting at the Quality Hotel Parkway Convention Center. The Sunrise Club (formally the AM Club) were flying their new Banner for the first time and Rod Hollick called the meeting to order.
Rod was pleased to see that the four St. Catharines Clubs, the Fonthill Club as well as the two Niagara-On-The-Lake Clubs were represented.
Rod recognized Matt Taylor - President of South Club, Rick Merritt - President of the St. Catharines Club, Willie Heidbuechel – Past President of the Lakeshore Club; Mike Whitaker – President of the N-O-T-L club; Randy Momot – President of the Fonthill Club as well as John Ripley – incoming President of the Lincoln Club.
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Rick Evans leads the group in the American and Canadian national anthems |
Rod called on Rick Evans to lead us in the American and Canadian National Anthems.
All remained standing as Past District Governor Art Wing led us through a thoughtful and inspiring invocation.
Rod introduced the head table: District Governor of District 7090 - Dick Earne; District Governor Elect – Bob Leek; To introduce the guest Speaker – Rob Welch; Our guest speaker – John Nay; Incoming President of the A.M. Club – Jacquie Herman Wing.
Special guests were Peter Partington, Chair of Region of Niagara, Damian Goulbourne, Mayor of Welland and Ralph Montesanto, District Governor Nominee for 7090. Also introduced, exchange students from the N-O-T-L Club Justin Koncz (Australia) and Clement Monpays (France).
Jacquie Herman Wing, President Elect of the Sunrise Club brought us greeting on behalf of the host Club.
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District Governor Dick Earne |
Rotarian Dick Earne our District Governor brought us greetings from the District Council. He reminded us of the District Conference on May 4, 5, & 6, 2007 and to buy tickets for the Early Bird Raffle with a prize of two days stay at a suite during the conference as well as golf tickets. Also, don’t forget a major fundraiser, the International Rotary Bike Trek. It will be held in Niagara-On-the-Lake on Saturday June 9, 2007.
Rob Welch introduced our guest speaker John Nay. John is originally from Michigan and receiving his MA from both Andrews University and The National Defense University. He is a seasoned diplomat having served in the State Department Bureau of African Affairs and in Foreign Postings such as Johannesburg, SA, New Delhi, India and in Calgary. John assumed his duties in Toronto as Consul General in June 2006.
John began his presentation by indicating that his ties to Canada are strong. He has many friends here and his son was born in Calgary while he was posted there. John looked forward to his posting in Toronto as it is the only foreign posting with a major league baseball team and is rooting for either a Toronto or Detroit win this season (as long as they beat the Yankees).
On the serious side John said he wanted to focus on the border issue which is very important to the Niagara District. It is very high on his agenda also and lauded the recent Student Conference held at Brock University as an example of a forum where the issue can be discussed. He is pleased that Brock has committed to hosting two more of these conferences.
Maintaining the strength of the strong relationship between the two countries is important. It was noted that 70 million Americans live in States bordering on Canada and 24 States have Canada as their top trading partner. Locally, trade with the USA represents 40% of the GDP for Ontario.
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Rob Welch, John Nay and Rod Hollick |
Our two countries have a long history of cooperation and reminded us of our more recent cooperation against nuclear proliferation, energy security, agreements on air and water and the free trade agreement. As well we are working together in the Sudan and Afghanistan. We also have to continue to work together on such issue as international property rights that concern our motion picture industry and computer software development. These will protect such local companies like RIM.
On the passport side the January 23, 2007 date went into effect for air only and it went quite smoothly.
The January 2008 date for land is approaching and is extended a few months because of some issues. Some exceptions have been agreed to such as exceptions for children under the age of 15 and for sport teams with members between the ages of 16 and 18.
John indicated that birth certificates are not the answer because of the absence of a standard format. This makes life very difficult for border personnel and causes delays at the border. The passport rout is quicker.
On the USA side John indicated that 74 million Americans now have passports and 16 million new passports will be issued this year and 18 million next year and they are adding new passport offices to handle the extra demand.
A message he wants to leave with us, our families, our businesses and others is to get a passport now and don’t wait for the last minute.
Another thing to consider is the Nexus Card. It is good for land crossings only but costs $50 and is good for 5 years.
The Whirlpool and the Peace Bridges are equipped to accept the Nexus Card and the Queenstown Bridge will be equipped within the next year. It should be noted that the Whirlpool Bridge Nexus system closes at 10:00PM.
In closing, John called for the two countries to continue to build on a strong relationship, which has endured 200 years. “Don’t focus on a few blemishes and overlook the muscle and sinew of our strong relationship”.
John was asked if he ever foresees the two countries ever going borderless, as is the case in Europe. He indicated that there would have to be a political will to go that rout and he does not see this on either side of the border.
Graham Repei from the Sunrise Club thanked the speaker and Rod called on all present to rise and toast the Office of the President, the Queen and Canada and to Rotary World wide.
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John Nay receiving a bottle of ice wine |
