A Pre-AGM Chat With Gary Bernard

When last we chatted with Gary Bernard, he had just switched from interim executive director to full-time executive director of the Canadian PGA and he has since been settling into his new role.

“Things have been going great. I’ve had a lot of great support from members and industry people, lots of people calling me and sending e-mails and things of that nature,” he said.

“I’ve had great support from the national board. They’re doing everything they can to support me and making sure that I have the tools to succeed,” said Bernard, who says one of his first priorities has been looking into hiring new staff members.

“We’re trying to determine what those will be right now. We’re working with McKinley Solutions, the search firm that worked for the position that I’m in,” he said.

“I’m looking at this year as being a transitional year and we’re going to fill some gaps in our staffing. We’re going to review our strategic planning. That’s where the focus is,” said Bernard, who has an important date coming up in just under a month.

The Canadian PGA’s annual general meeting takes place Wednesday, March 24, in Moncton and Bernard’s first AGM as executive director is a critical one, according to a GNN Poll taken last week.

Almost half of respondents, 47 per cent, saw this year’s AGM as critical to the Canadian PGA’s future, while another 24 per cent saw it as more important than most such meetings.

With 71 per cent of respondents seeing added importance to this AGM, one of the particular points of interest will be the PACE (Professional Advancement, Career Enhancement) vote that is actually taking place right now with proxy votes being delivered to members.

After being sent back for a tweaking a year ago, results of that vote on the redone PACE program will be announced in Moncton.

“I wouldn’t say it’s going to dominate (the meeting). We’re going to have the vote. The vote certainly will be one of the highlights of the meeting, whether or not it passes,” said Bernard.

PACE will affect career paths and affect the perception of Canadian PGA members by potential employers. If it passes, it will also likely lead to staff additions at the national office.

As Bernard pointed out, however, there are other items on the agenda, not the least of which is the President’s Dinner, which will honour, and likely lead to a few good-natured jokes about Lindon Garron, whose two-year term comes to an end.

“The AGM is a two-and-a-half, three hour meeting at the most and there are a number of items on there with finances and different things,” said Bernard. “For sure, everybody will be wondering about PACE and the new bylaws to go with it.”

Beginning on Tuesday, GNN will expand on our discussion with Bernard about PACE and other matters with the AGM on the horizon in less than a month.

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