Our Organisation
HISTORY OF BPAWC
The Association was registered in Alberta on March 19, 1984 as THE BRITISH PENSIONERS ASSOCIATION, ALBERTA - CANADA. By 1989, local groups were meeting in other centres on an informal basis. One such group was formed in Calgary, and in 1991 the administration and records of the Association were transferred to Calgary.
On May 10, 1999 the Association formally changed its name to BRITISH PENSIONERS ASSOCIATION OF WESTERN CANADA to reflect more accurately the geographical distribution of its membership, with local representatives in Edmonton, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Abbotsford and Vancouver Island.
The Government of Canada has repeatedly expressed support for expatriate British pensioners but has been unsuccessful in its efforts to persuade the UK to change its policy. In February 1998 the House of Commons in Ottawa passed unanimously a Private Member's motion calling upon the Canadian government to pursue vigorously the achievement of parity for British pensioners living in Canada with other UK pensioners.
The Association is a non-profit organization and all elected Officers and Directors are volunteers who receive no remuneration and are dedicated to serving the Association in the pursuit of its objective.
We publish a quarterly newsletter which gives members a full update on the struggle to unfreeze British pensions. It is published quarterly in March, June, September and December.
Further information and membership details can be obtained by contacting us.
INTERNATIONAL CONSORTIUM OF BRITISH PENSIONERS
During the 1990's various Pensioner organisations around the world cooperated with each other and informed each other what was going on in the fight for British pensions. Our own organisation believed that the legal route was the way forward and so when in 1999, the South African Association of British Pensioners received a favourable legal opinion and moved forward with the Annette Carson case, we, the BPAWC immediately responded with financial assistance.
We continued to support the Annette Carson case through the various British Courts and one by one, other pensioner organisations came on board, BPiA in Australia and the CABP based in Eastern Canada and later the Australian BAPA.
This loose co-operation was somewhat formalised in 2006 when John Markham, a Director of the Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners did a remarkable job for a period of 6 weeks in London as he called it "working on hearts and minds in Westminster".
It was important that John be able to identify himself as working not just for his parent organisation but for ALL pensioner organisations and so the name "International Consortium of British Pensioners" was devised.
The International Consortium leaders keep each other informed and aware of issues and consider joint responses. This co-operations culminated in 2007 with a lobbying trip to the London and Westminster where we were able to take the lobbying personally to Ministers, shadow Ministers, members of parliament, the Parliamentary Select committee on Pensions Reform, charities supporting the elderly, and the Canadian High Commissioner. Together we achieved considerably more than one organisation alone could ever have done.
Charles Poole (SAABP), John Markham (CABP), Sheila Telford (BPAWC), Peter Morris (BAPA), Tony Bockman (CABP), Jim Tilley (BPiA)