Rick Brick is leaving the national board this summer, but he will remain involved in the association, and may even run for president of his Edmonton branch. Photo: Dave Chan
Few people have contributed as much to the National Association of Federal Retirees as Rick Brick of Edmonton.
Brick, 69, has served on the national board of Federal Retirees for six years. In 2018, after years of service to the Edmonton branch, he was elected district director (Prairies and the Northwest Territories) for a three-year term. He was re-elected in 2021.
“Volunteering should be important, should be a part of everyone’s life,” Brick said in a recent interview. “You’ll get the satisfactions of supporting and helping others, and you’ll develop a network of relationships with people that will offer its own satisfactions.”
At the national level, Brick is most proud of his work in creating a committee to look into human resources issues with the association. This was a natural initiative for Brick, who had worked for many years as a human resources expert in the private sector. He became the first chair of what is now a standing committee in the association.
Brick has contributed to the association’s response to a proposal from Alberta Premier Danielle Smith that would see the province withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) to set up a provincial plan in its place. Brick is also a strong proponent of Alberta bringing back an independent seniors advocate. Alberta had led the country in establishing such an advocate, but the Jason Kenney government amalgamated the seniors advocate with the health advocate in 2019, citing financial savings and efficiency.
For Brick, that efficiency isn’t evident. For one thing, the work of the seniors advocate has only a 30 per cent overlap with health concerns. Other concerns — housing, transportation, food and income security — deserve equal attention.
“We’ve spent hundreds of hours working with various politicians and newspapers to encourage the current Alberta government to re-create a proper seniors advocate,” Brick says. “Though we’ve had some traction, we haven’t succeeded yet, but we’re far from finished.”
In the four years before his election as district director, he worked for the Edmonton branch, which he joined after a partial retirement in 2014.
After his election to the branch’s board of directors, he was appointed its health benefits officer and then acting secretary, before successfully running as first vice-president of the branch.
As he approaches 70 and the end of his second stint as federal director, Brick hopes to pick up new responsibilities back in Edmonton. He has been asked to run for branch president. “I’m pretty sure I’ll run, but even if I don’t, I’ll certainly be a member of the Edmonton branch.”
Professionally, Brick worked for much of his career at the Department of National Defence, where he long served as director of human resource management at the Land Force Western Area. He also worked as a human resources expert in provincial and municipal governments, and is now a sessional instructor at the University of Alberta’s business school.
He and his wife, Joan, will continue volunteering as long as they can. They are both involved, for example, in the Second Chance Animal Rescue Society, an organization with a no-kill policy that cares for abandoned animals.
“As long as we can serve valuable roles, we’re in,” Brick says