"Day on the Hill"

To all ASHRAE members,

 
Our friends at HRAI have scheduled a (virtual) “Day on the Hill” for May 4th, 2021.  HRAI is setting up meetings with MPs across the nation, as well as Ministers, Parliamentary Assistants, Committee Chairs and senior bureaucrats.  HRAI will also be preparing some key messaging on behalf of the industry and will do a preparatory message briefing in advance of the actual day of meetings.

ASHRAE has been invited to participate in this process so we’re reaching out to identify members who might be interested in participating on our behalf.

Doing this virtually has some disadvantages, but the major upside of this format is that it will allow us collectively to involve many more of our members -- from the comfort of their own homes and offices. HRAI will try to match up constituents with their local MPs wherever possible. Please note that, depending on the meetings we get, we may not need every member who volunteers, but we want to be prepared!

Please indicate your willingness by filling in this FORM: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdQPsJJMypZsz1xY28RC-T46UtFrk797MgSASWLsG-v-XNcXQ/viewform

Peter Chan - Government Affairs Chair 2019-2020

As a professional engineer and an ASHRAE member for over 20 years, it is an honour to be able to serve as the Board of Governors and Government Affairs Chair for NAC. My goal as Government Affairs Chairs is to bring awareness of ASHRAE as a whole and the Design and Operational, Standards and Guidelines, that ASHRAE writes and publishes in order to make this world a better place to live, both indoors and outdoors.

In order to achieve my goal, I will be reaching out to different Municipal, City, Provincial Officials and introduce who I am and what I represent.

GAC Report October 2018

The ASHRAE Northern Alberta Chapter will be planning a Day on the Hill at the Provincial Legislature this year. What is a “Day on the Hill” you ask. It is intended to be an educational day for any government officials. Any and all ASHRAE members will be invited to spend some time at parliament and speak to interested government officials on whatever topic they may have concerns with. It also gives our members the opportunity to bring up code, by-law, or bill issues direct to the government.

I will be reaching out for volunteers to join me, so feel free to contact me if you have something you would like addressed or are willing to help out. I have asked for materials from the ASHRAE Government Affairs office so that we will be able to distribute information about ASHRAE as well as standards that ASHRAE creates.

In addition to a Day on the Hill our chapter is actively working on a new communication initiative where we will be accepting inquiries regarding code application, technical details and general procedural items as they pertain to local governing bodies. Our intent is to allow our membership to share their own interpretations and experience with the goal of helping other members and government officials in the future. As this is a “work in progress” we will be reaching out to our members for their thoughts, ideas and participation as we continue to shape this new idea.

As always, feel free to reach out to us at any time with your ideas and feedback so we can all do our best in making a difference.

(Also a note for anyone curious, what was once the Government Grassroots Advocacy Committee or GGAC has now been renamed to Government Affairs Committee or GAC.)

Devin Sikorski - GAC Chair 2018-2019

I was born and raised in a small farming community in northern Alberta and moved into Edmonton in 1995. I currently live in Stony Plain with my wife and 3 children. When I am not coaching or chauffeuring my kids to their endless sports activities I enjoy playing hockey, golf and am an avid bow hunter.

I am proud to be the GAC Chair for the ASHRAE Northern Alberta council for the 2018/2019 year. This is my fourth year on the board with my previous years being the Membership Promotion chair. My industry experience started as a Refrigeration/HVAC mechanic and eventually transitioned into the Building Automation field where I have spent the last 12 years.

The role of the Government Affairs Chair is to influence, inform and educate government officials, at any and all levels regarding topics that are ASHRAE members specialties. Standards, regulations, codes and laws are often passed by government with little knowledge on how it could affect the industry. I believe with a little help from the ASHRAE community our chapter will be able put the right knowledge and information into the hands of those who can actually make meaningful changes.

If you have suggestions, ideas or thoughts regarding how ASHRAE can influence our local government please reach out to me at anytime!

Robert Prybysh - GGAC Chair 2017-2018

I am pleased to be your GGAC chair this year.  My intent is that we can develop the grassroots involvement of our design community.  To that effect, NAC is working on a new communication initiative where we will be accepting inquiries about code application, technical details, and general procedural items and allowing the membership to share their interpretations and experiences. 

Our intent is that this will allow our membership to establish the current position of the design community, especially the grassroots participants who are involved in the production of designs.  If successful, the membership will be provided with insight to what the general consensus is with regards to technical matters and help each other through discussion and sharing of knowledge. 

I look forwards to working with our membership on this initiative and hope it will provide value at the fundamental grassroots level.