Thursday, November 17, 2022

I would not wish to leave APS without sending my warmest salutations to all of those responsible for this impressive journey that has marked my professional life. So, this is for you, the many thousand members of our Association, present and past, to whom I am addressing my gratitude for this unforgettable experience on the eve of my retirement.

By accepting the invitation from Réal Jean more than twenty years ago to create the job of General Manager at APS, I was far from thinking that my career was taking a turn that would lead me all the way to retirement. And for those who don’t know me well, that meant a sustained, unconditional attachment for the duration of my service with the Association.

I had the privilege to deal with Coordinators, National Presidents, as well as National Executives, made up of people who became friends more than colleagues with the passage of time. So much so, that above union victories and organizational accomplishments, those human contacts stand as my most precious moments.

I am also leaving grateful for a job rarely accessible to the majority of professional occupations; working to help others. The essential vocation of a union is to help out members encountering personal problems in the context of their work assignments. At the end of hundreds of grievances and thousands of support interventions, the feeling of having even limited or partial success in improving the faith of someone in trouble brings about an incomparable sense of satisfaction.

You then have before you the example of a soon-to-be-retired General Manager completely pleased with his work tenure, also explaining why he is leaving at such a ripe old age.

In wishing as much joy and satisfaction to my successor as I had to serve you as your General Manager, I am taking my retirement by conveying to you my warmest farewell and thanks.

Claude Beausoleil