PAGSE April Newsletter

I am very pleased to provide a few words for our first newsletter of 2020 and share with you an update on the recent activities and plans for PAGSE.  

Although our Bacon and Egghead speaker series had to be placed on hold due to COVID-19, we started the year with a very well-attended presentation from John Smol who reminded Parliamentarians about the urgency of climate change through the evidence he has collected in the field. Under the leadership of our new B&E Chair, Natalie Goto, we are working to reschedule the speakers who were supposed to present this spring for the fall or into 2021. Another idea under consideration would be to have a few speakers give online presentations that can be shared with the public. This format could engage PAGSE’s main audience (the elected government) as well as the Canadian public in this time of confinement. This would maintain the visibility of not only PAGSE but also of the sponsors of the speaker series until the House sits again. Your feedback would be welcomed as this format for the speaker series would be outside of the norms for PAGSE.

 With the Bacon and Egghead speaker series on hold for now, we have made progress on some of the proposed plans for PAGSE that will be presented to the Council at its next meeting. This would have not been possible without the support of our new manager, Emma Brown. Emma, who is an engineer by training, joined us in January and has been very effective at re-launching the speaker series while providing administrative support. We have been collecting quotes for the re-branding of PAGSE and options on the incorporation of the organization are on their way.

 In February, I also met with the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) to introduce myself as Chair and discuss the opportunity for our organizations to work together on joint activities. This first meeting was positive as the leadership of the RSC indicated support for PAGSE. I am looking forward to further discussing this with the Council and the RSC.

 I will end this note by inviting you to share with Emma and I your ideas and suggestions on our plans for PAGSE, and I sincerely thank our members and sponsors for their continued support in these difficult times.
- Dr Jérôme Marty