The newly-established Equestrian Canada (EC) Driving Committee had the opportunity to connect face-to-face on May 2 and 3, 2017 to collaborate on the strategic direction and priorities of the Committee in order to support the sport of driving in Canada.
Committee members, Michel Lapierre, François Bergeron, Patricia Carley, Diane Goyette, Ellen Hockley, Elisa Marocchi and David Sim gathered at the EC national office in Ottawa, ON, with Susan Karrel joining via conference call, in order to define a vision and identify immediate key strategic priorities for the committee to move forward with.
At the conclusion of the two-day session, the Committee has put forward the following vision statement:
To provide the structure for driving in Canada that will enable drivers to progress and develop to their full potential.
In addition, the Committee extensively reviewed feedback obtained from the Canadian driving community through a 2016 survey. Utilizing the feedback from more than 400 survey respondents, the Committee identified the following strategic priorities as their immediate areas of focus:
- Strengthen access to quality instruction and coaching for drivers at all levels.
- Ensure the EC Rules for Driving are consistent across Canada, and where possible, standardize with the rules currently utilized within the United States.
- Address barriers to certification and ensure driving officials have access to standardized training that is updated regularly.
- Improve the Canadian driving competition system to encourage drivers to enter and progress through the competition stream.
- Support the increase of sanctioned driving competitions within Canada by simplifying the sanctioning process in partnership with the Provincial/Territorial Sport Organizations (PTSOs).
The EC Driving Committee welcomes questions, comments and feedback from the Canadian driving community as they work to create a strong, collaborative structure to support and strengthen the sport of driving in Canada. The Driving Committee can be contacted at DrivingCommittee@equestrian.ca.
The 2017 EC Driving Committee members are as follows:
Michel Lapierre (Chair) – QC
François Bergeron – QC
Patricia Carley – AB
Diane Goyette – QC
Ellen Hockley – BC
Susan Karrel – NS
Elisa Marocchi – BC
Carole Precious – ON
David Sim – ON
For more information on driving, visit www.equestrian.ca/sport/driving.
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