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Gary Dickson, Saskatchewan Privacy Commissioner Gary Dickson, Q.C. was appointed Saskatchewan's first full-time Information and Privacy Commissioner effective November 1, 2003. He was elected as the M.L.A. for Calgary Buffalo in a 1992 byelection. He was re-elected in1993 and 1997. In the Legislature he served as the critic for Freedom of Information and the Protection of Privacy, Health, Human Rights, Consumer Affairs and Justice. He was House Leader for the Official Opposition. During his legislative period, he was directly involved in the development, enactment and implementation of the Alberta Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Health Information Act. He participated as the senior position member of Premier Klein's Access to Information Panel that conducted 3 months of public hearings in 1993 and authored the report that led to Alberta's current FOIP Act. He was a member of the Select Special Committee of the Alberta Assembly that undertook a comprehensive review of the FOIP Act in 1998. He was a member of the Health Minister's Health Information Task Force that undertook some 8 months of consultation and study of health information issues. From 1992 to 2001, he was the member of the Legislative Offices Standing Committee that oversaw the office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. He was founding Co-Chair of the Canadian Bar Association Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section (Southern Alberta) and an Executive Member of the CBA National Privacy Law Section. He was also chair of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce Health Information Committee. In 2002 and 2003 Mr. Dickson co-chaired a Private Sector Privacy Law Working Group of Alberta lawyers advising the government of Alberta in the creation of the Personal Information Protection Act. He was a contributor to the Privacy Handbook for Canadians: Your Right and Remedies published in 2002. He also was author of the Advanced Access to Information and Privacy Module for the Local Government course offered by the University of Alberta and Dalhousie University. Mr. Dickson has spoken and written extensively on access, privacy and health information issues including stints as a columnist for the Calgary Herald and the Human Rights columnist for LawNow. Mr. Dickson was a sessional lecturer on human rights for the University of Calgary and received both the Alberta Human Rights Award from the Human Rights and Citizenship Commission and the Civil Liberties Award from the Alberta Civil Liberties Association. He was born in Edmonton and lived in Drumheller, Alberta until finishing high school. He earned a B.A. in political science/history from the University of Alberta. He received his LL.B. from the University of Alberta in 1971. He was called to the Alberta bar in 1972. He practiced law in Calgary, Alberta until he became an M.L.A. He is a member of the Law Society of Alberta and the Law Society of Saskatchewan. |
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Geoffrey Rasmussen http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/ Geoff Rasmussen, of Surprise, Arizona, is the father of 3 young budding genealogists, ages 8, 6, and 3. He has served as vice-president of the Utah Genealogical Association and taught for the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. He is a member of the Continuing Education faculty at Brigham Young University in the Family History Department where he graduated with a degree in Family History and Genealogy. He is the author of numerous books, videos, and articles on genealogy technology. He develops the Legacy Family Tree genealogy software program. He met and proposed to his wife in a Family History Center. |
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Dave Obee Dave Obee has been researching his family history for more than 30 years. He is the co-author (with Sherry Irvine) of Finding Your Canadian Ancestors: A Beginner’s Guide, published by Ancestry in 2007, as well as two local histories of Victoria, British Columbia, and seven other books for Canadian genealogists. He has given more than 250 talks at seminars and society meetings since 1997. Dave runs CanGenealogy.com, a link site for Canadian genealogical resources, as well as Volhynia.com, dedicated to the region in the northwest corner of Ukraine. He is one of the owners of Interlink Bookshop and Genealogical Services of Victoria, BC. Interlink runs the Genealogy Unlimited website, which sells books and maps from Canada, the British Isles and Europe. Dave has visited 17 countries in Europe, and has done genealogical research in most of them. He has a keen interest in the world war battle areas in France, Belgium and Luxembourg. He serves as president of the Federation of East European Family History Societies from 2004 through 2007, and is now the FEEFHS webmaster. Dave was born in British Columbia, but has roots in Saskatchewan -- his father was born in Langham, where his grandfather was the town electrician. Some of his paternal ancestors arrived in North America two centuries ago, settling in New York State and Ontario. His mother was born in a German colony in Russia, and came with her parents to Canada in 1928. Dave has been a newspaper reporter or editor for several different newspapers in British Columbia or Alberta since 1972. He is currently editorial page editor of the Times Colonist. The Errors of Our Ways Many times, well-meaning family history researchers find themselves at a dead-end because they took a wrong turn without realizing it. This session includes a dozen examples of errors that have been made and how those errors could have been avoided. It may inspire you to take a second look at some of your research practices. Researching Female Ancestors Odds are, about half of your ancestors are female -- and it makes more sense to research the females than the males. It’s tougher, however, because the records aren’t as complete. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done. We owe it to our female ancestors to learn everything that we can. More Than Just Names and Dates When you’re compiling information on your ancestors, it’s important to be aware of the big picture -- the historical events, local or national, that affected their lives. But it’s just a important to collect as many details as possible: If they had a farm, what were their crops? How did they spend their free time? This session is designed to help you look above and below the obvious when doing research. Write Your Family History One of the best ways to create a lasting memory of an ancestor is to tell the story of their life. While a genealogical chart can seem daunting (or even worse, boring) to a non-genealogist, a narrative is accessible. A well-written story will make other family members much more aware about the research that you are doing. This talk -- by a genealogist who has been a journalist for 35 years -- includes some ideas that will help you get over your writer’s block. With luck, it can inspire people to start writing more stories for the society’s journal. |
