It is with regret that we announce that Society President, Scott Young, has resigned his position, effective Saturday, 2008 April 5. This came as a surprise to everyone involved, and we are saddened by his decision. His resignation was related to a difference of opinion with his Executive Committee colleagues that made him feel he had lost the mandate to lead.

In the past few months, your Society's leadership and council have been grappling with recent changes to Canadian charities regulations. This has been a stressful time for all involved. A voluntary disclosure was filed with the Canada Revenue Agency on 2008 April 8, and now that this has been done, we intend to communicate more about this issue to the membership in the near future.

We will sincerely miss Scott and wish to acknowledge his many contributions as Society President for nearly two years and to the Society's Executive, Council and national committees over the past 6+ years. Scott's accomplishments are many - not least of which was his ability to manage the operation of this large organization, while at the same time continuing his challenging work as the Manager of the Planetarium and Science Gallery at the Manitoba Museum. He showed us how to keep a level head while chairing National Council meetings; how to draw an astronomical object from the eyepiece; how to skillfully engage volunteers to help further the goals of the RASC; how to strum a guitar in the wee hours at a General Assembly; and how to keep the Executive and Board Pilot Committees engaged and focused. Scott leaves many lasting legacies. Two examples are the newly minted President's Award and important improvements to the way National Council meetings are run so that this valuable time is used more effectively.

Scott, we wish you well in your future endeavours.

Dave Lane, 1st Vice-President
Mary Lou Whitehorne, 2nd Vice-President
Mayer Tchelebon, Treasurer
James Edgar, National Secretary