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WHO WILL TEACH US TO PADDLE?
Power Play
NATIONAL PADDLING BODY AMPUTATES PROVINCIAL LIMBS
THE ORGANIZATION responsible for overseeing recreational paddling in Canada has changed the way it does business. Whether Paddle Canada’s (PC) new incarnation will mean the demise or salvation of paddling in the country de- pends on who you ask. For the past 36 years PC’s board of
directors had been made up of repre- sentatives appointed by each provincial paddling association. Last October the board agreed that the individual mem- bers of PC should be electing the direc- tors. T e provincial bodies would no lon- ger have seats on the board. “We completely support the constitu-
tional change,” says Kathryn Zimmer- mann, a coordinator with the Alberta Recreational Canoeing Association. Alan T omson, the president of the
Recreational Canoe Association of Brit- ish Columbia explains why most provin- cial bodies agreed to neuter themselves. “PC’s major income comes from indi-
vidual members now, it seems reasonable that those members have more of a say.” It wasn’t always this way. When PC
(formerly the CRCA) formed in 1976 it had no individual members and acted as an umbrella organization, helping pro- vincial bodies talk to each other, lobby- ing governments and promoting recre- ational paddling in provinces that didn’t have their own association. PC has since started running its own
instructional courses and adding its own instructors as members. T e fees from the nearly 1,200 members now account for 70 per cent of PC’s revenue, accord- ing to president Richard Alexander. In the Fall 2006 issue of Kanawa mag-
azine, Alexander wrote that supporting PC instructors had become the primary focus of the organization. Which helps to explain the change of governance— and the attached proviso that provin- cial bodies that wanted to stay on as
federated members of PC would have to promote all PC instructional programs within their province. Many provincial bodies didn’t see this
as a threat, but the Ontario Recreational Canoeing and Kayaking Association (ORCKA) has dropped anchor and is re- fusing to fall into formation. Gordon Haggert, president of ORCKA,
explains that if ORCKA promoted PC courses it would be competing with itself, since ORCKA has had its own instruc- tional canoe program since the 1970s. “To be a member of PC now would
essentially mean closing up shop and shrinking away,” says Haggert. ORCKA claims that revenue from the canoeing course could be worth $75,000 a year to the organization running it. Ceding control of the canoeing pro-
gram is something ORCKA is reluctant to do, since the PC course was devel- oped by ORCKA to begin with. In 1999 PC was unhappy with their canoeing program and ORCKA off ered its highly regarded program to be used across the country. Haggert says ORCKA received a letter from PC agreeing that, in ex- change for lending PC their program, ORCKA would remain the provider of canoeing courses in Ontario “We’ve sent letters to PC asking if they
intend to abide by that agreement. T e answer is, apparently not,” says Haggert.
“T is year will tell us a lot. It’s a question of how aggressive PC will be in invading Ontario with their canoeing program.” For its part, ORCKA will be invading PC territory by off ering a newly developed kayaking program, this after several years of administering PC’s kayaking courses in Ontario on PC’s behalf. As with all turf wars, those in the
trenches don’t always have the best per- spective. Claudia Kerckhoff -Van Wijk has run courses for decades at her Mada- waska Kanu Centre in Ontario. She has taken the aerial view, hoping that ORC- KA fi nds a way to become part of the new national order. “Paddlers in this country need a
strong voice again to take on access and conservation issues. PC wasn’t growing because it was doomed structurally. T e board structure makes more sense now. We need to strengthen the national program so the organization can grow and be eff ective beyond just instruction again,” says Kerckhoff -Van Wijk. Tim Dyer of White Squall Paddling
Centre on Georgian Bay is another course provider who will have to choose between two competing programs. “It’s like a di- vorce and we’re the kids,” says Dyer. “But really, who cares who is doing the teach- ing, as long as people are learning proper- ly?” Apparently, those who collect course fees care very much.—Ian Merringer
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