RIMS Canada Council takes message to Parliament Hill

The body representing Canada’s risk managers has staged its first annual meeting with federal representatives in Ottawa, aimed at increasing the profession’s profile with regulators and legislators. The RIMS Canada Council (RCC), mirroring the “RIMS on the Hill” event staged each year in the U.S., met with the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), Justice Canada, and the new Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada (PESP) department recently in Ottawa, says RCC chair Nowell Seaman, manager of risk management and insurance services for the University of Saskatchewan.Seaman, along with RCC vice chair Glen Frederick, treasurer Kim Hunton, communications/external affairs committee chair Lance Kayfish andRIMS Canadian consultant Bonnie Wasser made the trip to Parliament Hill. “Our discussions focused on sharing the activities of RIMS in Canada, increasing the profile of risk managers and risk management, and looking for ways that we can share information and possibly partner with each agency,” says Seaman.Just following the Ottawa meetings, the RCC also held its annual planning meeting in Montreal, where it develops goals for the coming year. Among the new initiatives the RCC is working on is a membership strategy, Seaman notes. “The strategy will support RIMS goals to continue to provide strong service, strengthen RIMS chapters, and to enhance value to all Canadian RIMS members.”The RCC, and its subcommittees for the annual conference, education and communications/external affairs, will meet in Toronto this May, Seaman adds.