CLA Conference debrief

It is hard to believe that Canada Day is almost upon us and that the CLA National Conference and Trade Show was almost a month ago now! How the time flies during the hazy days of summer.

The CLA conference was a fantastic experience for me – I attended wearing several hats, including first timer, presenter and CASLIS TO President (and member of the CASLIS National Advisory Committee). It was an incredibly rewarding and enriching experience all around, and I was able to walk away with a lot of new knowledge and tools, both in regards to my work, and my – and your – association.

As blog readers likely know, CASLIS and CASLIS Toronto have been in a bit of a limbo since the end of February, when CLA announced a drastic restructuring. At the time, we were uncertain if we would continue to exist – never mind offer programs and services – after June 30, 2010. Well, that date has come and gone, and we are still here. However, the year ahead is certain to be an interesting one for CLA and our chapter.

I, along with my colleagues on the executive Maggie Weaver and Lily Mac attended the CASLIS and CLA AGMs, as well as the Resolutions Hearing wherein the resolutions for the AGM were reviewed and significantly revised. This was a highly informative process for me, and I am very pleased with the resolutions that emerged from that session; to the point that I spoke in their favour on the floor of the AGM.

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  The nuts and bolts are as follows:
  · The Executive Council (EC) acknowledged that they acted hastily in the deferral of all elections – a motion was carried to reinstate the election for VP/President-Elect, the other members of the EC will remain in their current roles until the 2011 AGM in Halifax;
  
• The current CLA business model is no longer sustainable for the organization;
  
• It has been acknowledged that CLA needs to change, and change quickly. The current EC has been charged with the task of delivering a framework for change, and communicating its progress to the membership;
  
• A subcommittee was formed, under new president Keith Walker which is charged with outlining the future direction of the organization. The findings of this committee are expected to include significant changes to the constitution which will be presented to the membership in early 2011;
  
• Overall, the community responded overwhelmingly that not only is change needed, but the CLA is needed as a voice for our profession now and in the future.
  

What this means for CASLIS Toronto and our membership is that we will be moving forward with the 2010/11 programming year, in addition to working with the CLA to ensure that our members’ voices are heard. There will be more announcements regarding both Toronto’s programming and the restructuring of the CLA in the coming weeks and months.

I encourage everyone to check back both here, and the CLA’s Future Blog [http://www.clatoolbox.ca/CLAFuture/] regularly for updates.

Eileen Lewis
President, CASLIS Toronto