Well, it’s time to put 2016 into the books and I must say CWWA had a pretty great year. The financial numbers are always a good measurement of our administration, but we don’t exist to make money – we exist to serve our members – and I think we did well in that aspect as well.

Of course, it’s important to keep the finances in order. Our membership numbers are solid (and starting to grow again). Our ads sales on our publications are solid with potential to grow. And our consolidated conference strategy is proving to be a success, both financially and as a respected professional event. We are pleased to end 2016 with another surplus (around $40,000) which is three years in a row. Not only does this give us reserves for stability, we can start to look at projects to serve the members.

From the services side, we published our monthly e-Bulletin filled with CWWA news, stories from across the country, a great events calendar and more. We published two editions of our national magazine filled with submissions from our members. We issued several Communiqués on federal issues and shared specific reports to our technical committees. We also presented two great national events – the Window on Ottawa in June and the National Water & Wastewater Conference in Toronto in November. These events are designed to facilitate national level dialogue and support utility leaders with knowledge sharing opportunities.  

We are also you advocates in Ottawa. While I don’t report all of my activity to you each month, we have been very busy with this new government. We have provided submissions to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities on the federal budget and their infrastructure plans. We have met personally with the Minister and his staff as well as with the Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment to voice the concerns of our members. I was pleased to hear that our infrastructure submission was being reviewed and discussed by the Liberal Caucus in their deliberations over the infrastructure plans. Meanwhile, we are working closely with the FCM and other national water associations to provide a united voice that calls for flexibility and the best value for the dollar. We are representing our industry to the media on all issues, and working to develop standards around flushable wipes, while also developing a national survey with Public Safety Canada toward resiliency of our utilities.

As for 2017? We have heard from you in our membership survey and will be sure to direct appropriate resources to the big three issues: Safe Water, Sustainable Infrastructure and Climate Change...while keep our fingers in a myriad of other issues.  We will be working more with our technical committees and looking at our website as a means to better serve the membership. We can always use your help!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Robert