Hello,

First, names continue to be added to the petition and we have surpassed 610, but please keep sharing and encouraging Canadians to join in. 

In our last update we indicated that we had reached out to HSMBC management and the Minister who provides oversight. That note was sent to them on March 27th, but in all fairness there have been senior executive changes to sift through.  We simply wanted them to be aware of the poorly written initial Submission Report and the effort by many of us to re-write that Report. It included four questions we asked to be answered.

·         Will our re-edited Submission Report be accepted by the HSMBC staff?

·         Will it be re-submitted to the Committee in June? Or submitted directly to the Honourable Minister for her adjudication and approval?

·         We had posed the question of allowing us to present or be available to the committee members if it is to be re-reviewed by them?

·         Can this be given a higher level expedited attention, given the wait for the past three years and the suggestion it could be another year?

On April 13th we sent a follow-up to the newly appointed, but interim, CEO. Our note was acknowledged immediately with a promise to have someone address these questions. Two weeks had passed and nothing from anyone, so we sent in another follow-up, giving them a May 1st deadline. Today we heard from the CEO directly who still  didn't answer any of the four questions, but only suggested that we would hear from someone soon, regarding the re-edited and re-submitted report. 

He went on to say that he recognized and respected that I personally may hold a different perspective than the HSMBC regarding this nomination.  He went on to note that the Board’s recommendation reflects the established criteria and evaluative framework applied when considering requests of this nature. Nothing could be further from the truth. I do not believe I have a different perspective. I/we have reviewed the criteria carefully, which we understand allows the committee, where the precise historical record may not be available, to rely on “inference and reasonable probability” in the absence of complete evidence. In our view, the Fossmobile nomination requires some consideration under that provision. We also know that for the Board committee garbage in is likely to be garbage back out, or in our case a decline based on a Submission Report that was inaccurate, misleading, and improperly cited, or better stated, garbage. 

Equally important, the initial nomination did not come from the family, but the Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network. In addition other professional organizations have now provided endorsements, and important information, missed initially, so now identified from sources well beyond just our family’s perspective.

We have now quickly reminded him of these important facts. We have also shared that we now have extensive, well-documented support from hundreds of Canadians, representing every Province and Territory for this nomination, which we are prepared to submit if it would be helpful.

Ron Foss

Executive Director, Fossmobile Enterprises