August 2021 

President's News

Trial season is well underway, and several of our members are off to the Western Canadian Finals!  Good luck to them all, BC will be well represented.

I would personally like to thank all those members who have generously opened their homes and their farms to us to either host a trial, a clinic or just invite us over to train our dogs.  Thank you.

All of us, I am sure, have had our own personal struggles through COVID, be it work, school or home related.  The pandemic has taken its toll on many.  I consider myself very fortunate to have moved to a smaller community during the pandemic, as well as retire from University life.

Though 2021 has been a quieter trial year,  it has brought up some unchartered waters for trial hosts and the BCSDA.

Some trial hosts have asked that competitors be vaccinated against COVID 19 prior to the trial in order to ensure the safety of the members.  Members who choose not to be vaccinated were understandably disappointed by the restrictions, but most respected the position of the trial host.

The question we as a board are faced with is whether the BCSDA should sanction trials that require vaccination against COVID 19.  In order to deal with this, an extraordinary meeting of the Board of Directors was called on August 11th, 2021 via Zoom.  I spoke with representatives of the CBCA and the USBCHA to get a better understanding of their COVID 19 protocols and the reasons behind them.  The CBCA is requiring vaccination for the Canadian Championships.   The USBCHA will sanction trials both with and without vaccination restrictions, thus leaving it up to the trial hosts.

After much discussion and careful review of our constitution the Board of Directors passed a motion that the BCSDA will not sanction trials that do not require COVID 19 vaccination amongst participants. This decision was not taken lightly.  It brings into consideration the safety of the membership and it is intended to fully support trial hosts who ask for full vaccinations.  Trial hosts who choose not to require proof of vaccination against COVID 19 will still be able to be sanctioned by the USBCHA, just not the BCSDA.  This means the liability insurance and any aggregate trial points would be waived from the BCSDA.

Charmaine Henderson and Cathie Morrison have agreed to draft a policy for the board to review.  Once the board has approved the policy, I would like to suggest we re visit the situation early in the spring of 2022, as we all know the COVID situation has been very fluid and changes, it seems, daily.  This will also give the board time to hear the voice of the membership on this very important issue.  Please speak directly with your Regional Director.

Lastly, this year’s AGM will be held via ZOOM on Tuesday October 26th, 2021 at 7.00pm, pacific time.  I will post the zoom link in the member’s area on the website.  In the meantime I have asked the Regional Directors to collect any agenda items from the members and send them to me by September 25th.

Have fun with your dogs!

BCSDA President

Nancy Barker