Atlantic auto recyclers hold annual meeting

By Melissa Hayes

Truro, Nova Scotia — October 22, 2014 — Maritime members of the auto recycling industry gathered late last week for the Automotive Recyclers Association of Atlantic Canada (ARAAC) 2014 Annual Meeting.
 
Held at the Holiday Inn Hotel & Conference Centre in Truro, Nova Scotia, the Oct. 18 event kicked off at 8 a.m. with a provided breakfast before launching into meetings and elections.
 
During the elections portion, Dana Poehl of Poehl’s Auto Recyclers, and One Stop Auto’s Larry Drouin stepped down as treasurer and secretary respectively, with Shelley Roy of Blenkhorn Auto Recyclers and Capital City Auto Parts’ Heather Langille called upon to fill the roles.

ARAAC President Dalbert Livingstone, of Island Auto Supply, welcomed Roy and Langille to their new positions within the association, while thanking Poehl and Drouin for their years of service.
 
“Dana was the treasurer when I first started coming to ARAAC meetings, and now he’s finally passed the torch onto someone else,” Livingstone says, adding that the association provided a presentation and gifts to honour Poehl and Drouin for their long-standing membership and dedication. “I’m excited to see what Heather and Shelley can bring to the table as a younger generation.” 
 
Following the elections, ARC Managing Director Steve Fletcher delivered the meeting’s international report, in addition to a white paper focusing on provincial legislation changes relating to the auto recycling industry.
 
“PEI is still the first province to change their legislation, but it looks like Ontario and Saskatchewan are making some headway,” Livingstone adds. “New Brunswick is getting very close, and I think they’re moving in a positive direction.”
 
For Livingstone, these types of meetings are important simply due to the wealth of information shared among members. And it’s this information, whether of regional, national or international scope, that he says can’t be found elsewhere.

Attendees then heard from Robert Counts of Counts Business with a presentation on CBC Dashboard. As co-founder of the software, Counts walked members through its aim to assist recyclers in keeping tabs on company vitals, diagnosing problems and creating solutions.
 
After breaking for lunch, Counts continued as speaker with training sessions focused on the Three P’s–People, Processes and Perception, as well as the intricacies of running a family business before the day concluded with a yard tour of Blenkhorn’s Auto Recyclers, scheduled reception and BBQ.
 
With this year’s meeting wrapped up, Livingstone says ARAAC members will connect again in May and while no keynote speakers have been lined up as of yet, Langille and Fletcher have been busy meeting with various environmental departments in hopes of proposing legislative changes.
 
Livingstone is optimistic that more progress will be made and that environmental legislation will begin to reflect the modern auto recycling industry.

“Every time we have a meeting, somebody else is getting closer and it’s really exciting,” he says. “It would be nice to have every province update their outdated legislation to be more in line with the progressive automotive recycling that we’re doing today.” 
 
For more information, please visit ARAAC.ca.