Careers in Wholesaling — 1976

April 12, 2021

At the January 1976 meeting of the Board of Directors, the title of the association’s manager was changed from General Manager to Executive Director.

A new brochure illustrating careers in the electrical distribution industry was prepared and circulated. The purpose of the booklet was to assist member companies of CEDA in interesting and hiring personnel for the electrical distribution industry. The booklets were available in both English and French.

In April 1976, General Manager Norman McKellar submitted notice of his resignation, stating that he did not wish to participate in the increased involvement with the political scene in Ottawa, and at this point in his career he had decided to pursue some projects of his own. Norman’s resignation, effective August 31, was accepted at the July 22 Board of Directors meeting. Richard R. Taylor was selected as the new Executive Director and took up his duties at the beginning of September.

Negotiations were taking place with the Commodity Tax Board in Ottawa over the Federal Sales Tax. CEDA’s position (then as now) was that the tax should be applied at a retail level.

CEDA made its two honour awards to manufacturers: Allen-Bradley and Thomas & Betts.

The Canadian Electrical Manufacturers Association changed its name to “EEMAC” (Electrical Manufacturers Association of Canada) and David Armour was appointed President of the renamed association. The new association was in fact joining together of two associations, although the exact date that the merger took place is not recorded in CEDA’s minutes.

Shown in the photo: outgoing CEDA president Jeannine Woods presenting the President’s gavel to Roy Martin.

Source: CEDA: Fifty Years of Service – An Historical Review of the Canadian Electrical Distributors Association, 1934 to 1984, Kerrwil Publications. Please feel free to reach out to us any time if you have great photos, historical anecdotes or perspectives. We would love to hear from you; linegoyette@kerrwil.com.