[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]COPA Board of Directors Election 2018

Every two years half of the positions on the COPA Board of Directors are up for election.  In 2018 a total of seven positions representing the following regions will need to be elected:

Quebec (2 positions) – currently held by Jean Messier and Jonathan Beauchesne

Southern Ontario (3 positions) –currently held by Phil Englishman, Conrad Hatcher and Cheryl Marek

British Columbia & Yukon (2 positions) – currently held by Joe Hessberger and 1 vacant position

Any COPA member in good standing may run for a position in the region in which they live.  If you have a passion for general aviation and feel you have something to contribute to COPA both on the Board and as a regional representative, please consider volunteering for this very important work.  The term of office for this election shall commence at the summer Board meeting in June 2018 and continue until the summer Board meeting in 2022.

Nominations for these seven positions are now being accepted.

• The deadline for receiving nominations is Thursday, February 8^th, 2018. Candidates will be announced in the March COPA Flight and on the website.
• The election will close on Monday, April 2^nd, 2018. Ballots will be counted and results will be announced in the May COPA Flight magazine and on the website.
• Based on the new Canadian Governance rules for no-for-profit guidelines, the slate of Directors elected in the regions will be presented to the COPA membership for ratification at the Annual General Meeting on June 23^th.

Candidates should:

• have a strong belief in COPA’s mission
• have a passion for aviation
• have a high standard of personal ethics
• want to make a lasting contribution to general aviation
• be able to spend a minimum or 15 days per year on COPA business (at three Board meetings per year and at regional events)
• have ready access to email for Board communications

Nominations for a Director must be made in writing by at least five voting members from the same region (defined as paid-up regular members, their family members and persons designated by corporate members when they applied for membership).

Completed nomination forms must be received at the COPA office by 12:00 noon on Thursday, February 8^th, 2018.

Forms are available here for download:

COPA Director Nomination 2018 form

Candidate Questionnaire 2018

Candidate Bio Form 2018

A list of candidates will be published in the March COPA Flight, along with information about the candidates and instructions on how to vote.

Voting is conducted online.  Alternatively, members will be able to request that a paper ballot be mailed to them.

In order to provide voters with comparative information on candidates, nominees will be requested to complete a candidate questionnaire and a 200 to 300 word biography, both which are to be submitted with the nomination form.

Facts to be included in the nominee’s bio:

• Flying experience and currency
• Aircraft ownership if any
• COPA Flight or flying club affiliations
• What is your main reason for wanting to be a COPA Director?
• What is the single most important skill you feel you can bring to the Board?

Consider who you would like to see representing you on the Board and nominate them today, or if you would like to run yourself find a few members to nominate you.  Don’t hesitate. COPA needs good people to pursue its mission.

The COPA mission:  To advance, promote, and preserve the Canadian freedom to fly.

Nominee biography/platform:  Please include the candidate questionnaire, and in 200 to 300 words, a biography from the nominee that will be helpful to COPA members casting ballots in an election.

Interested candidates who wish to request an information package about being a COPA Director can email or call Tessa Toutant, Event Coordinator at 613-236-4901×107 or ttoutant@copanational.org[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

COPA Co-Founder John Bogie will be inducted into the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame in 2018.

He is one of four inductees and will be joined by Gen. Paul D. Manson, O.C., C.M.M., C.D., Dr. John Maris and Dr. Dwight Gregory Powell, O.C. at a ceremony  June 7, 2018, in the Sunwest Aviation hangar at Calgary International Airport.

Bogie and Margaret Carson founded COPA in 1952 and has been active in the organization since its inception. Below is the Hall of Fame’s biography of Bogie.

Born into an aviation family in the United States, John Bogie has made his home in Canada since the early1950s, following service in the United States Navy, work as an airport operator, and as a very young charter pilot. In Canada, he quickly made a name for his charter and resource exploration work for Laurentian Air Services and Spartan Air Services, including the flight that identified the major iron deposit at Gagnon, Quebec.

Complementing his civilian flying, in 1952 Bogie became, with Margaret Carson, a co-founder of the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA), serving as its first President and Chairman. Since that time, he has been an unswerving supporter of COPA, seeing it grow from modest beginnings to some 17,000 members.

He served in most of COPA’s executive capacities and continues as an honorary director and life member. He still attends as many COPA events as he can, now into his 90s. His COPA accomplishments include simplified medicals for pilots and aviation liability group insurance now used by commercial carriers.

John  helped to create the Experimental Aircraft Association Canada organization, as well as a civilian pilot group for Search and Rescue as an adjunct to the military. Another entity he helped bring into being was the Canadian Business Aircraft Association (CBAA), first as an arm of COPA and then as a distinct entity. His Laurentian Air Services career ultimately took him to the presidency, to many initiatives to diversify its operations and to embrace the bilingual nature of the environment in which his company operated.

A subsequent stroke of initiative allowed him to buy a large consignment of ex-US Army Beavers which were rebuilt and put onto the Canadian market. This constituted the largest single aircraft purchase of its kind in Canada and made Laurentian the Canadian centre for Beaver activity. John Bogie has continued to support Canadian aviation long after his retirement in 1992. He continues to enjoy the respect and affection of the aviation community to this day.

Manson is a former Chief of Defense Staff and was in charge of implementing the CF-18 into RCAF service. Maris is a test pilot and well known innovator in electronic and other aviation products and Powell is an expert in medical evacuation services and the founder of STARS.