Mr. Chair, and members of the SECU committee, thank you for inviting the IPSC community to your meeting to present what we do, who we are and why we do it.
First of all, who am I?
I'm a Canadian who came here at a very young age, and who was taught from a very young age the three Rs, which, as we know from school, are reading, writing and arithmetic. I was also taught by my parents, again at a very early age, an additional three Rs, which today I and the IPSC community follow. These are responsibility, respect and recognition.
What do those three Rs represent in my sport of IPSC?
Responsibility means that there are good and bad consequences for your actions. I joined the sport of IPSC only with one key understanding—safety must be and is number one.
Respect means that we are inclusive and diverse and that we tolerate and understand differences. Regardless of age, sex, orientation, culture or religion, people from all walks of life are members. Like everyone here, we are all members of the same race, the human race.
Recognition means that we emulate, admire and strive for excellence. What you put in is what you put out.
I learned all these things at an early age from my parents, who were teaching professionals.
I'll roll it forward to 31 years.