10 CIM Magazine V ol 15 No 3 r ang e of kno wledg e and I g ot t o pr actise a lit tle bit of F r ench along the w a y as w ell I used the title Being T her e f or another r eason My o w n learning s and m y small c ontribution this y e ar ha v e been deriv ed fr om being ther e fr om visiting br anches and c onf er enc es and e v ent s int er acting with societies activ ely list ening and trying t o best under st and the challeng es and suc c e s s that each and e v e ry CIM c onstituent f a c e s Being ther e has been inspiring f or me as has meeting gr eat people who ha v e a bias f or action and kno w ho w t o g et the right thing s done I ha v e learned a lot this y ear and her e is what I kno w I kno w that CIM is a c ommunity of incr edibly smart pas sionat e and innov a tiv e people who w ant the best f or Canada and the w orld and who kno w one w a y t o do that is thr ough our mining and miner al industry T h e y w ork har d f or what the y belie v e in and truly mak e a diff er enc e in our industry and in our society I kno w that Canada is f ant astic I gues s I alr eady kne w that but the opportunity t o visit so man y c ommunities and so man y gr eat people acr os s the c ountry has been the highlight of m y t erm Bec ause e v en though Canada is an incr edibly div er se c ountry fr om a g eogr aphic per spectiv e what mak es Canada special is not it s amazing vist as but it s amazing people I kno w and under st and that the mining industry is pla ying and will pla y a piv ot al r ole in the futur e of the w orld Ma ybe it sounds lik e a br ash st at ement but the met als and miner als that w e pr oduc e will be a k e y part of the solution t o climat e chang e w orld hung er and man y of the other challeng es that f a c e us on a global sc ale Doesn t it f eel g ood t o be part of the solution I kno w that Canada is a leader in the w orld when it c omes t o our industry Contr ary t o popular belief leader ship isn t deriv ed fr om being the lar g est pr oduc er or ha ving the big g est GDP or being the big g est c ompan y Leader ship is about set ting e xamples and w alking the w alk f or thing s that mat t er the most lik e pr ot ecting our people pr ot ecting our en vir onment pr actis ing div er sity and inclusion In these ar eas and mor e Canada will lead our global industry t o a plac e wher e it needs t o be one of social ac c ept anc e and a driv er of a bet t er quality of lif e f or all And w e all kno w the w orld c an alw a y s use a lit tle mor e Canada And I kno w CIM pla ys an import ant r ole in all this By cur at ing leading edg e kno wledg e est ablishing a r obust net w ork and impr oving public a w ar enes s of our industry w e ar e enabling the Canadian mining industry t o bec ome what it needs t o be a global leader wher e it mat t er s most And in the pr oc es s making our kids and gr andkids pr oud of us Ho w s that f or being ther e Being t her e I wr ot e this P r esident s N o t e bef or e the CO VID 19 pandemic appe ar ed and I thought I would r e visit and per haps r e vise it based on w hat is happening t oday Upon r e view I decided not t o I have no medic al kno wledg e that c an pr o vide you any advic e on the curr ent situation that you do not alr e ady have ac c ess t o fr om countless other sour c e s So I have left my final submission as CIM P r esident t o r emind e ver yone of w hat a gr e at industr y we wor k in and that we will endur e and continue t o be a ke y driver in impr o ving the qualit y of lif e of people ar ound the world Wis hing you g ood he alth during these challenging times J er zy K osinski s f ascinating book Being Ther e w as made int o an A c adem y A w ar d winning movie of the same name f e aturing Pet er Seller s as the lead char act er Chaunc e y Gar diner Chaunc e y had a particular ar ea of e xpertise g ar den ing but one da y w as some what inadv e rt ently sent out int o the c omple x w orld t o c ope I c an r elat e t o Chaunc e y Gar diner My o wn backgr ound has been in mine c ontr acting and mine de v elopment c e rt ainly a specializ ed ar ea of mining but when I t ook on the r ole of CIM P r esident a one y ear t erm which in r eality is thr ee y ear s plus I w as giv en ac c e s s t o the full br eadth of our miner al and mining industry It has been a whole ne w phase of learning in m y lif e It has been a gr eat opportunity t o e xpand m y o w n pr esident s not es Ro y Slack CIM P r esident Jon Benjamin Photography