Library CEO awarded for excellence
Maureen Sawa, CEO of the Greater Victoria Public Library, has been recognized with the 2020 Award of Excellence by the Association of B.C. Public Library Directors.
She was presented with the award by fellow library directors across British Columbia at the association’s virtual annual general meeting on Tuesday. The award recognizes outstanding leadership in library advocacy, innovation and contribution to the library community.
As CEO, Sawa has introduced library programs and services, says the award citation. She has also been an active contributor to both the provincial and national library communities. As past chair of the Association of B.C. Public Library Directors, she was instrumental in developing the new constitution and bylaws for the association.
She is also past chair of the Canadian Urban Libraries Council and represents public library interests on a variety of national working and advisory groups.
Empress’s Q bar top 50 in Canada
Q Bar at the Fairmont Empress Hotel has been named one of Canada’s 50 Best Bars for 2020 by Canada’s 100 Best magazine. Rankings are based on a poll of 51 national judges.
Q Bar was the only bar on Vancouver Island to make this year’s list and one of just nine in British Columbia.
It’s a timely accolade for Q Bar as the Empress Hotel reopens on Friday after a three-month shutdown due to the pandemic.
“This is an impressive accomplishment by our Q at the Empress team,” said hotel general manager Indu Brar.
She said Q Bar is home to inspired cocktails, artisan beers, locally crafted Empress 1908 Gin and the best B.C. martini on the coast. “Patrons can take a seat at the bar or settle into a plush couch with friends, watched over by pop-art-inspired art installations of Queen Victoria.”
Greenard signs on to Greenard Group
Jacqueline Greenard has joined The Greenard Group. She worked with Scotiabank and ScotiaMcLeod from 2010 to 2014, and completed her bachelor of commerce degree at the University of Victoria in 2014 and masters in professional accounting at the University of Saskatchewan in 2016. Greenard articled and worked with KPMG in Victoria and Cayman Islands offices from 2014 to 2019. During that time, she specialized in the investment industry and obtained her Chartered Professional Accountant designation. She can be reached at Jacqueline.greenard@scotiawealth.com or 250-389-2130.
Indigenous tourism expects decline
The Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada expects to see a 66% decline in direct GDP (down to $555 million) and a 60% decline in employment (down to 14,624 jobs) this year as the global tourism industry is hammered by the effects of COVID-19.
The Conference Board of Canada data emerged from Indigenous tourism operators who participated in a survey of the sector. The forecast is in contrast to 2019, when more than 36,000 people worked in the Indigenous tourism sector, and its direct economic contribution exceeded $1.6 billion in GDP.
The Conference Board of Canada research estimates about 714 Indigenous businesses could be at risk of closure in 2020-2021.
“Since COVID-19 first hit the tourism industry across Canada, we had no doubt the negative impacts would be devastating to our Indigenous tourism operators, as it has been for all tourism operators across Canada,” Keith Henry, ITAC’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
ITAC also released a four-year, $50-million Strategic Recovery Plan with the goal to respond, recover and rebuild the Indigenous tourism industry across Canada by 2024. The Indigenous tourism sector in Canada has about 1,700 businesses and, until 2020, was showing a robust and positive growth trajectory, outpacing the overall Canadian tourism sector.
