SPFGA Virtual General Meeting

The pandemic has required us to be flexible in many ways, including how we meet as an association. This general meeting will be held online using a virtual webinar-style meeting platform.

The agenda for this meeting is a proposed increase to membership fees, which requires a ratification vote by the membership. Your attendance and involvement in this is essential. Simply register to attend so that your vote is able to be registered. Any SPFGA member of good standing 16 years of age or older is invited to attend and vote.

SPFGA 2021 Membership Fee Proposal

The SPFGA is a member club within the Alberta Fish & Game Association(AFGA). A portion of each member's SPFGA membership fee goes toward membership within the AFGA.

Recently, the SPFGA Board received notice from the AFGA regarding an upcoming Special General Meeting it is having.

Link to the AFGA letter: http://bit.ly/AFGA-Aug-31-Letter

Backgrounder: http://bit.ly/Special_Resolution_Background

Questions and Answers: http://bit.ly/AFGA_Questions_and_Answers

Process Flowchart: http://bit.ly/Process_Flowchart

The full letter, background to the issue, and Q&A are all available at the link above, but the short version is that the AFGA needs to increase their membership fees in order to remain financially solvent. Because their membership fees are contained within ours, we cannot simply absorb that increase. As such, the Board is proposing a fee increase beginning with the 2021 membership year and is asking the membership for a ratification vote. SPFGA delegates attending the AFGA Special General Meeting on October 15 will be guided by the results of this vote.

The ratification vote on this fee increase serves several purposes:

1. It will provide a clear mandate from our membership regarding the AFGA fee increase for our delegates at the AFGA Special General Meeting. If we do not approve our increase, then we must vote against any increase at the AFGA level.
2. It will provide a clear mandate from our membership on if they see value in our affiliation with the AFGA. If we vote against the fee increases that would allow the AFGA to continue to operate, then that would effectively end our association with them. Additionally, if they do not have this increase approved, the most likely outcome is that they will not be able to continue to operate. We represent a substantial portion of their minimum operating budget and if we withdrew, they would have to raise their fees so much more to offset this that many other clubs would withdraw also, and that would be the end of the AFGA as we know it.
3. Along with addressing the AFGA fees, the Board has reviewed our ongoing funding needs and has proposed an increase to our portion of our membership fees as well. It has been some years since our last membership fee review and the cost of operating the Association have continued to increase. To ensure that we have adequate funding moving forward, we will require an increase of our own.

It’s worth noting that if we don’t continue to affiliate with the AFGA, we would need to source insurance elsewhere and all indications point to this costing the same or more than our AFGA affiliation fees.

We currently only have preliminary proposed fees from the AFGA, as their fees won’t be finalized until after their own vote at their October 15 meeting. As such, the SPFGA Board is putting the following forward for our membership to vote on:

Cover AFGA increase and add 20% to our fees (rounded up to the nearest dollar):

1. Regular membership = AFGA fees + $33
2. Regular membership w/ Range Privileges = AFGA fees + $123
3. Family membership = AFGA fees + $47
4. Family membership w/ Range Privileges = AFGA fees + $161
5. Youth membership = AFGA fees + $8

The above structure would allow us to adjust to the precise final amount once the AFGA fee has been decided. Future SPFGA membership fees will be indexed to AFGA fees in the same way without a subsequent vote required by the membership until such time as we need to increase our portion of the fees.

The current AFGA affiliation fees (the portion of your SPFGA fee remitted to the AFGA) are: $28 for Regular Memberships, $36 for Family Memberships, and $14 for Youth. The AFGA's preliminary proposal is to adjust these fees at minimum to $45 for Regular, $60 for Family and $20 for Youth. After some discussion with them, we have reasonable confidence that fees won’t exceed this amount for the coming year. For perspective, based on this assumed increase, what that looks like for us in total is:

1. Regular membership = $78
2. Regular membership w/ Range Privileges = $168
3. Family membership = $107
4. Family membership w/ Range Privileges = $221
5. Youth membership = $28

The SPFGA Board feels strongly that we should continue to be support and be affiliated with the AFGA. Our mission statement is: To promote through education, lobbying, and programs the conservation and utilization of fish and wildlife resources, the protection and enhancement of habitat, and the safe and responsible practice of the shooting sports. The AFGA has been a major partner in these efforts since the SPFGA was founded nearly 60 years ago.

More about the AFGA from their website (https://www.afga.org/):

The Alberta Fish and Game Association is Alberta’s oldest and largest conservation organization—Our roots can be traced back to 1908!

Our membership is more than 24,000 in over 84 clubs throughout Alberta! Being a member increases the strength and voice of the AFGA when it deals with government, industry, and other organizations on matters and issues of concern to resident outdoor enthusiasts.

Membership Benefits include:

• knowledge that you are supporting the largest conservation organization in Alberta
• being part of the acquisition and protection of over 40,000 acres of our Wildlife Trust Fund properties; available for hunting, angling and outdoor pursuits
• $5,000 Accidental Death and Dismemberment benefit while participating in hunting, fishing, trapping or authorized Club activities
• $5,000,000 personal excess liability insurance-discounts on the purchase of personal insurance through BrokerLink (1-888-826-9427)
• yearly subscription to “Outdoor Canada West” magazine (regular newsstand price $7.99 per issue, six issues per year)
• 10% discount on select Mark’s merchandise
• participation in our annual Wildlife Awards competition
• opportunity to participate in youth and women camps in Alberta
• opportunity to participate on numerous conservation projects