Updates from DCRA Council

To our valued members,

Since our annual general meeting at the end of March your Council has had the opportunity to meet on several occasions, and we would like to provide you with the following updates:

2021 Nationals

At our most recent Council meeting, the difficult decision to cancel the 2021 National Championships for all disciplines was made. Multiple factors contributed to this decision, including the lack of access to the ranges at Connaught, the risk around evolving inter-provincial travel restrictions and public heath directives, and a strong desire to ensure that any of our members could attend without restrictions. Our Shooting Committee, under the leadership of Gale Stewart, will continue their work to identify opportunities for DCRA-led or supported shooting for all of our members across Canada and we hope to have more news on this front in the coming weeks.

Honours & Awards

Over the last few months, we have had the opportunity to recognize several individuals for their shooting accomplishments and significant contributions to the Association.

Council is pleased to announce that Mr. Alain Marion has been appointed as a Governor of the DCRA. In addition to his incredible talent as a shooter Alain was a long-time member of both our Council and Executive, and he continues to support and develop young shooters at the local, provincial, and national levels.

In recognition of his long-standing support of the Association Mr. Bruce Bolton, Executive Director of the Macdonald Stewart Foundation has been granted an honorary Life Membership in the DCRA.

Tomasz Bledowski has met the criteria for induction into the DCRA’s Service Conditions Hall of Fame through his multiple individual National Championships in Precision Rifle. Tomasz would also qualify based on the points earned for strong performances in our National Service Conditions Championships over the years. Congratulations Tomasz!

Terry Perkins has also met the criteria for admission into the Service Conditions Hall of Fame in Precision Rifle through the accumulation of Hall of Fame points over the last many years. Terry and his shooting partner Tomasz have won the 2-man Precision Rifle National Championships twice, and were part of the winning 4-man teams on 11 occasions. Congratulations Terry!

International Teams

The 2022 Canadian Rifle Team to Bisley will be a special one, as it celebrates the 150th anniversary of the first Canadian Team to the Imperial Matches. We are pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Alain Marion as Honourary Commandant, Geoff Woodman as Commandant, and Anna Paton as Adjutant for the 2022 Bisley Team.

The 2021 ICFRA F-Class World Championships in Bloemfontein, South Africa were initially postponed until 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They have subsequently been further delayed until 2023 following a vote by the ICFRA F-Class Committee. The dates of the planned 2025 FCWC in Bisley may need to be modified, but there has been no decision on this yet.

With the postponement of the FCWC to 2023 ICFRA has consequently made the decision to postpone the 2023 ICFRA Long Range World Championships/Palma in Bloemfontein until 2024. Members who may be interested in joining the team training and development program should contact Team Captain Emma McGinnis at [email protected]

2021/2022 DCRA Council & Executive

A full list of elected members of Council and Executive has now been posted on the DCRA website. We’re happy to welcome aboard many new members, and thank those who have rejoined Council for their continued service to our members.

In closing, I would like to extend a thank you to our membership on behalf of Council for your support, patience, and understanding as we have worked to navigate through the challenges of the last 16 months. It has been heartening to see ranges beginning to open back up across the country and matches planned for the summer. We eagerly await the full return of a normal shooting season, but in the meantime, we encourage you all to stay safe, and to make the most of the shooting opportunities available to you.

Scott Bissett

Chair of Council, DCRA