Message from the President

In this, my first presidential message, it is a pleasure to begin with thanking Jim Gerrie for his past three years of service as President which has seen the Society continue to grow and provide opportunities for scholars to present their work. Jim will be continuing to put out the bulletin and assist the society, for which we all are very grateful. The last meeting at UBC was a considerable success. In lieu of the usual book symposium the Society co-sponsored a panel discussion with Margaret Somerville, Iain Benson (Canadian Centre for Cultural Renewal) and Paul Groarke (STU), after Dr. Somerville's Research in Society Lecture. This was an important and well attended event.

This also meant we had a full day for papers and the program was informative and enjoyable for all who attended.

At the business meeting it was decided to increase our modest membership fee to $20. A major reason for this decision is that for the past two years we have been subsidizing the cost of a Grad Student whose paper is accepted at the society. The ongoing health of the CSCP requires the recruitment of new members and we have an important role to play in supporting scholars who are at the start of their academic careers. Accordingly, I would encourage you all to ensure that your memberships are kept paid and up to date so that we can continue supporting new scholars.

In this issue you will also find the call for papers for the 2009 annual meeting. I would encourage everyone to submit a paper and join us for an exciting conference. I look forward to seeing you there.

Regards,
J.L.A. West, Ph.D
President