Originally Posted by
Christopher Field
As a CFC life member resident in Ontario, I have never been required to pay OCA fees.
It seems to me that by far the best way to handle this is to collect the Life Membership fees as stipulated, and for the CFC to remit a portion to the provincial association in which the given life member resides.
The amount of this portion could possibly be ten times the average provincial association annual fee. The exact amount would be determined by the governors.
This means that all provincial associations would get the same amount. It would be a large enough amount to cover any costs to the provincial association on behalf of that life member.
If such a life member should later move to another province, surely the new provincial association must accept the life member without receiving any portion of any fee. This is required simply as being part of the CFC, as the province is a part of the Dominion of Canada. After all, what real expenses does a provincial association entail in accommodating such a life member?
As I understand it, life membership fees are invested by the Chess Foundation; from this, revenue is paid annually to the CFC to assist with expenses incurred on behalf of all members: website, magazine (mainly). The amount returned annually may or may not equate to an approximation of one annual fee for each life member; the return would depend upon the dividends or interest realised by the Foundation's investments. Reducing the initial investment per life member by giving a portion to the member's current provincial association would not greatly affect the returns on investment. But this would assist all provincial associations where players purchase life memberships over time.