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ALL DRESSED UP BUT NOWHERE TO GO

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by Pierre Filion pierrefilion@bell.net No one can say that changes in personnel are not happening fast at Lacrosse Canada. First the Executive Director (the corporation’s top man) was released , on February 19 th , by a vote of the Board of Directors for important deficiencies in his mandate: - lack of financial transparency - lack of communication - failure to execute Board directives . These important deficiencies speak for themselves and anyone with any imagination will have understood that the Executive Director was acting as a one man show ignoring the Board of Directors and toying with the corporation’s money as if it was his own and as if he did not need to report to anyone. The minutes of the Board’s February 19 th meeting are available on Lacrosse Canada’s website. Second, the president of the Board of Directors, Matt Shearer, was removed from his position by a unanimous decision of the Member Council (the provincial presidents). No minutes are available, at this time,...
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WHAT TERMINAL CANCER HAS TAUGHT ME… SO FAR…

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  b y Pierre Filion    pierrefilion@bell.net   Yes, I was diagnosed  with  terminal prostate cancer three years ago.  Terminal is the same word in French so I clearly knew what it meant.  Today I feel I need to talk about it in relation to the game of lacrosse; as there is a link!   P LAYING AGAINST THE LEAGUE’S BEST TEAM BY FAR   I received a terminal cancer verdict with 12 weeks left to live. ‘’You won‘t make it to 12 weeks; make sure your will is written; look at giving some stuff to friends and family and make sur e you say goodbye to everyone you loved’’. That’s exactly how it was presented to me  b y an oncologist who clearly lacked empathy. In symbolic terms  I was going to play against the league’s best team; the obvious league champion.  The one who never loses.  I didn’t stand a chance. I was doomed. As are so many lacrosse teams when they prepare to face the league’s obvious champion.  Their sticks are...
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THINK LACROSSE IS FOUR YEARS OLD; AND RELEVANT

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  b y Pierre Filion pierrefilion@bell.net Yeah; we started this venture in April 2023 and now we are four years old; and we’ve never missed a beat. We’re there every Monday to start your week on the right foot. THINK LACROSSE does three things. We produce posts on the ‘’great ones’’ in our game so that readers have a sense of the history of the game through outstanding performances and unbelievable records. We talk about the people in our game; those who have scored or made numerous saves and who have graced the game with performances still talked about today . We talk about people who have given to the game with humility, who have loved the game and who became better people because of the game. It’s always about the people and the game. And about love. It’s about bringing all this together. We produce posts on the challenges facing the game; we identify red flags and present critical analyses about the performances of our leaders. We are not shy of our critical analyses as, ...
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FIRING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ‘’WITHOUT CAUSE’’ SENDS TERRIBLE MESSAGES

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by Pierre Filion pierrefilion@bell.net Now that the minutes of Lacrosse Canada’s Board meetings are posted on the website in real time (or just about) the members can have the opportunity to better appreciate the decisions that the Board makes; in itself this is a positive step towards some transparency and some sense of a democratic process. I encourage the paying members to go to Lacrosse Canada’s website and locate the minutes of the February 19 th Board meeting. It’s worth the journey as t hey are revealing! During the meeting the Board members go ‘’in camera’’ without informing the staff members in attendance of the subject of the in-camera discussion. By tradition an in-camera meeting is for Board members only and the discussions and decisions must remain confidential. The Executive Director (Terry Ra y ner) who attends every Board meeting was not invited into the in-camera meeting; neither was Jennifer Johnson, the administration coordinator . The in-camera session lasted o...
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ORGANIZED CHAOS OR PLANNED DEVELOPMENT??

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by Pierre Filion pierrefilion@bell.net Let’s first start by acknowledging progress that has been done at Lacrosse Canada. The minutes of Board meetings are now on the website for all to read a few days after the meetings. That in itself is progress and will help the lacrosse community to be aware of what the elected leaders are discussing and voting on. This is a first step towards accountability. However, what remains to be done is to inform the members that the minutes are somewhere to be found on the website once they are posted. What also needs to be done is to inform the members of the calendar of meetings and the schedule of other Lacrosse Canada’s meetings. This lack of information does not speak positively on the trail towards accountability. Secrecy never does. SEARCH FOR AN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Lacrosse Canada posted, on March 30 th , an information on the website that it was searching for an Executive Director. It never indicated however that the past Executive Director had...
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