PDA

View Full Version : Breaking news from the Canadian Olympic Committee! Huuuuuuuuuggggggggeeeee!!!!



Vladimir Drkulec
12-17-2015, 11:22 PM
The title is not presidential, I know.

This week has been a roller coaster of a week mostly up, up, up. But in a few instances down, down, down. I just got an email from Bob Gillanders which forwarded an email and a letter from the Canadian Olympic Committee. I am in serious danger of having a heart attack at this moment. So I am going to relax, check my blood pressure and my blood sugar and do some breathing exercises.

We have a letter in our possession that I have to look at carefully but in it, it states that they recognize the CFC as a national sporting foundation. God loves the CFC. Of course they gloss over the part about messing up in their transition to the NFP act but they are offering me a path forward to enshrine this into the future. They outline what we have to do to continue to be considered a national sporting federation.

Hallelujah! Pardon me for a while as I try to come down from orbit.

Vladimir Drkulec
12-18-2015, 12:40 AM
The line in the email pdf letter that got me so excited is the following:

"In addition, by accepting you as a class E member, the COC effectively recognized your sport in Canada."

Of course, in transitioning to the NFP act they had to reduce the classes of memberships so now we are no longer members but can apply to be an Olympic supporter and also request the forms to be officially recognized by the COC. I will be doing this promptly tomorrow.

Elias Oussedik
12-18-2015, 03:05 AM
Great news - congratulations!

However, excuse my ignorance, but what are the benefits of being part of the COC? Should we expect some sort of funding to be provided for our olympiad team? If so, how much is to be expected?

Vladimir Drkulec
12-18-2015, 03:15 AM
Great news - congratulations!

However, excuse my ignorance, but what are the benefits of being part of the COC? Should we expect some sort of funding to be provided for our olympiad team? If so, how much is to be expected?

Lets not jump ahead of ourselves. This MAY get us a seat at the table but if we reach too quickly for our chips it could get unpleasant with all the poker players carrying. We are in the endgame and need to negotiate our way through all the traps. I will definitely be presenting that email to some official or another in the not too distant future.

The odd thing is that it took the shakeout from the NFP act to get the COC to finally inform us that they recognized our sport in Canada. Too bad we didn't know earlier.

Garland Best
12-19-2015, 12:31 AM
Don't get too excited. I heard through the grapevine that this is old news and has been true for sometime.

Vladimir Drkulec
12-19-2015, 01:17 AM
It is old news but neither Hal Bond, myself, nor anyone else on the executive had heard this. This probably holds the key to getting something like charitable status again which means that a lot of businesses which will only donate to charities or national sporting federations as a result of their internal policies will be able to justify payments to things like the WYCC team and the youth fund for chess travel. It probably would have meant about $4000 in very low lying fruit to be used for youth activities over the time of my term at least up to the time that the COC made the transition to the new NFP act. Not a lot, but something. It also adds a great deal of credibility when dealing with sponsors that don't know much about chess.

Valer Eugen Demian
12-20-2015, 01:28 AM
The line in the email pdf letter that got me so excited is the following:

"In addition, by accepting you as a class E member, the COC effectively recognized your sport in Canada."

Of course, in transitioning to the NFP act they had to reduce the classes of memberships so now we are no longer members but can apply to be an Olympic supporter and also request the forms to be officially recognized by the COC. I will be doing this promptly tomorrow.

Recognize chess as a sport in Canada? This is huge indeed!

Vladimir Drkulec
12-20-2015, 01:52 AM
Recognize chess as a sport in Canada? This is huge indeed!

This is the holy grail we have found. Now its lost again but hopefully we will get it back soon. We are five or six years ahead of where we were at the beginning of the meeting. I am not exaggerating. I thought I was having a heart attack when I read that, I was so happy. My blood pressure jumped to dangerous levels but at least I would have died happy.

Lloyd Lombard
12-20-2015, 05:52 PM
I'm just reading this. Yes, this is "excellent" news. I agree with Vlad, the first thing that came to my mind that it may go a long way towards supporting a charitable organization application to Revenue Canada.

Vladimir Drkulec
12-20-2015, 07:11 PM
I'm just reading this. Yes, this is "excellent" news. I agree with Vlad, the first thing that came to my mind that it may go a long way towards supporting a charitable organization application to Revenue Canada.

The national sporting federation designation can give us a status which for all intents and purposes has the advantages equivalent to being a charity.