News & Announcements

Following the resignation of Acting President Randy Parkin in January of this year, a by-election was held in Alberta. Robert Maguire, who is based in Calgary, was elected and attended his first virtual Board meeting on March 15, 2023. Congratulations to Robert!

The HPAC/ACVL Secretary/Treasurer Tim Parker, of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, has given notice to the Board of Directors that he will be leaving his post on May 15, 2023 after 14 years of management of HPAC/ACVL’s Finances. This is a voting Board member appointment.

Responsibilities of the Secretary/Treasurer include: –

• Overseeing the preparation and implementation of the annual budget;
• Regular bookkeeping functions throughout the year, oversight of year- end financial statement preparation, and coordination with external accountants;
• Maintaining HPAC/ACVL’s compliance with reporting requirements for Corporations Canada and CRA.

If interested, please contact bd@hpac.ca.

We are happy to report that our Third Party Liability Insurance policy has been renewed, with no increase in premium. Please be reminded that the coverage is worldwide, except for the United States, which at most sites requires Temporary Membership for Visitors in any event. Including the United States in the coverage would have doubled the premium for us.

Please see the Minutes of the meeting here. BC Director Tyler Gillies is the new President for 2023, with Prairie Director Jon Lovering offering to serve as Vice-President. The Secretary/Treasurer Tim Parker was reappointed at his request for a period limited to 90 days, to give the Board time to find a replacement.

Please see here for a current breakdown of our membership by region, by wing type, by gender. Interesting fact: The average age of our membership is 46.

Membership by Region

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Eric Nelson sent in the following from their main site Mt. Dundee Launch from this club that has been going since the 70’s. Members bought the LZ near here to have assured landing for their members and for visitors. Pictures courtesy Eric Nelson, Al Gould.

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There are many individuals who give tirelessly to our sport, be they pilots who develop and maintain flying sites, instructors training new pilots, landowners who allow us to use their property as launch or landing sites, or others who support our sport in so many ways. These are the unsung heroes that keep our sport in the air.

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Both the President position and Vice-President role at HPAC are currently vacant, due to Nick Jones having stepped back from running again for the Board at the end of his term in Ontario, at end of December, and Randy Parkin’s recent resignation as Alberta Director. There are two new Board members that have recently assumed their roles:
Adam Chappell (Ontario)
Matthew Willox (Atlantic Canada)

Welcome to all!

As pilots are aware, the first National Park to be accessed for our sport was Jasper National Park (https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/ab/jasper/bulletins/F8DE4892-4EDF-4355-A241-A024E354B2CB) several years ago. In the meantime,
Yoho National Park has been added (https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/bc/yoho/activ/parapente-paragliding) as well as Kootenay National Park (https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/bc/kootenay/activ/parapente-paragliding).

Banff National Park is currently under active negotiation by Will Gadd, Brandon Hopkins and Margit Nance and Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks are currently under active negotiation by Scott Hanson.

Please observe all conservation closures that apply also to other users of the parks.

And see some happy pilots flying in Yoho Kootenay (courtesy of Brandon Hopkins of Alberta).

This was a year of loss of a number of our fellow pilots. The pilot community across Canada grieves for them.

Samantha Wex, Revelstoke, BC Paragliding pilot (while on a trip in France) (Eulogy by Chris Delworth)

Matthias Jakob, BC Paragliding pilot (while on a trip in Washington State, USA)

Raymond Pigden, Ontario Hang Gliding Tandem Pilot

Joshua Liegmann, BC Speedflying pilot

The HPAC Safety Committee is receiving directly all member-initiated accident reports at safety@hpac.ca. HPAC as a national association is also assisting authorities in the various jurisdictions with information about our sport.

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