I am pleased to be able to announce that the PSEA has appointed David Shepherdson as its new CEO. His first day on the job will be February 6th 2006.

David has an extensive and varied background in labour relations as a practitioner (City of Winnipeg and Canada Post), mediator (Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service), researcher (Conference Board of Canada), and lecturer (Universities of Ottawa and Manitoba). David has earned graduate degrees in business (University of Ottawa) and industrial relations (Queen's University).

David and his wife and daughter will be relocating from Winnipeg and so they will have to adjust to temperatures on the positive side of zero in February. This won't be a total shock for David as he has lived on the West Coast earlier in his career. I know you will join me in welcoming David to PSEA. We look forward to working with him.

I would be remiss if I did not use this occasion to say a big thank you to Hugh Finlayson for all his support and leadership over the past couple of years. I know we originally told Hugh that it would only take us six months to conduct an executive search but then we, and he, first had to endure a major organizational restructuring. Hugh has been a tremendous support to us all and we really have appreciated his gentle guidance. I would also like to thank the PSEA staff for all their patience during the uncertainty of the past two years. Their commitment to the organization and to helping us manage our labour relations activities has been exemplary.

Also, a big thank you to Caroline Jellinck and her colleagues at Ray and Berndtson for their help and guidance to the selection committee.

Nick Rubidge
PSEA Chair, Board of Directors