Presidents Message
During the past few months we have been working to improve our capability to carry
out one of our RUSI constitution’s mandates, which states “... to act as a link from the CF and the RCMP
to the general public so that the roles and requirements for adequate armed forces and police services can
be better understood.” We started this work with the recommendations of our steering group, then heard
Mayor Frank Leonard, which was followed by considerable discussion within two informal meets of your
executive. From these sessions arose a conviction that there is opportunity for us to move forward on this
mandate. The conviction in this regard was further firmed up with the talk provided us by General Hillier
on 24 July, who stated that he had instructed all his commands to work toward Connecting with Canadians. To be of maximum help we need to be singing from the same song sheet, so - to better know the ingredients
of it, our VP Gene Lake and I, will soon be meeting with Rear Admiral Girouard to get a first
hand briefing on what his command is doing - and where/how we might be helpful. It is my intention to
make more use of our internet e-mail to advise as new information becomes available.
....... Cheers, John
