I represented the ARRL at the Radio Amateurs of Canada National Convention in Vernon, BC, July 26-28. Vernon is in south-central BC in the Okanagan Valley, a bit north of the larger city of Kelowna which has become a retirement haven (ITU Radiocomunication Bureau Director Bob Jones is retiring there when his term ends in a few months -- he already has his new call sign, VE7RWJ). The Vernon and Kelowna clubs (North Okanagan Radio Amateur Club and Orchard City Amateur Radio Club, respectively) were co-hosts. Linda and I were invited to visit David and Rosemary Evans, G3OUF/VE6DXX and G0NDB, in conjunction with the convention trip. David is a former General Manager of the Radio Society of Great Britain. He and Rosemary emigrated to Edmonton, Alberta about 6 years ago. David is a supervisor in the communications control center of the Province of Alberta. He stays involved in organized Amateur Radio as editor of the electronic IARU Region 2 News. We flew to Edmonton on the Thursday before the convention, visited the VE6JY antenna farm that afternoon, and drove through the Canadian Rockies to Vernon with David and Rosemary on Friday. Friday evening we had dinner with IARU President Larry Price, W4RA, and Tim Ellam, VE6SH. Tim had just returned a couple of weeks earlier from representing the IARU at a meeting in Geneva of the ITU Special Committee on Regulatory/Procedural Matters (SCRPM), one of the WRC-03 preparatory bodies we have to keep tabs on. Tim is an attorney in private practice in Calgary, is a former vice president of the Radio Amateurs of Canada, and is the current member of the IARU Region 2 Executive Committee representing Canada and Bermuda. The only previous RAC National Convention was held in Calgary in 1994, which George Wilson and I attended along with Larry Price who at the time was ARRL Vice President for International Affairs. This year's event, held in a Best Western hotel, was about half the size of that one, with 400-500 attendees. The forums were well attended but the commercial exhibit and flea market areas suffered from being located about 1/4 mile from the hotel and did not get much traffic. RAC had its stand at the hotel and did a brisk business in a recently-introduced line of apparel. The ARRL purchased a "congratulations" ad in the convention program. A few ARRL memberships were sold at the RAC stand but I do not have an exact count. The RAC Board members who attended were President Bill Gillis, VE1WG, who had attended the ARRL Board Meeting the previous week; Secretary Dawn MacKay, VE1MAK; and Directors Earle Smith, VE6NM, and Dennis Livesey, VE7DK. RAC General Manager Debbie Norman, VA3RGM, was also present. There were a few visitors from the US and from eastern Canada but nearly all of the attendees were from VE7 and VE6. Longtime ARRL Board members will remember Farrell "Hoppy" Hopwood, VE7RD, who served as the first president of RAC after it was formed in 1993 by merger of the Canadian Radio Relay League and the Canadian Amateur Radio Federation. I sat with Hoppy at the banquet. He has fond memories of attending ARRL Board meetings. Another past president of RAC who was very much in evidence was Ken Oelke, VE6AFO, who was the banquet emcee and wore his ARRL Life Member badge the entire weekend. Larry Price has asked me to distribute to you his report on the convention, which is attached. Some of what I have said duplicates Larry's observations, but I'm sure you will find his other comments to be of interest. Larry mentions that Arnie Coro, CO2KK, could not attend as keynote speaker because he could not get a visa. This caused a number of the Canadians present to say unkind words about their government. Arnie was able to obtain a US visa earlier this year to attend a QRP convention. RAC hopes not to wait another 8 years to hold its next National Convention. Ottawa and Halifax have been mentioned as possible venues. Dave Sumner, K1ZZ <<RAC-2002.doc>> <<RAC-Jul02.ppt>>