President's Message
5 May 2013
Greetings all,
Our board of directors had an online board meeting on May 4, 2013. It was attended by our most of our executive and board as well as four observers. However, two hours is just not enough time to thoroughly discuss all the issues that need to be discussed. Our next online meeting will be Saturday, June 1.
Nominations for election of the Executive and Board of Directors of the United Ostomy Association of Canada Inc for the upcoming term closed effective April 15, 2013.
Peter Folk - President
Vacant - Vice President
Carol Wells - Secretary
Steve Maybee - Treasurer
Ed Tummers - Director
Ruth Kenney - Director
John Molnar - Director
Ann Ivol - Director
Vacant - Director
(Andrea Manson will be serving out the second year of her two-year term as Director)
There were not sufficient applications received to fill all positions, and not enough to require the holding of an election. In accordance with established UOAC procedures the above named persons will be presented by the Nomination and Election chair to the Assembly for acceptance to his / her position as members of the Board of Directors by acclamation.
The board of directors will meet in person in Halifax on August 16, the day before the Chapter Information Session (CIS), and attend the CIS on August 17 and meet again the afternoon after the Annual General Meeting on August 18, 2013. The Ostomy Halifax chapter is going to have a great get together, see more information later on in this UOAConnection!
The Canada-Not-for-Profit Corporation Act provides federal not-for-profit corporations with a new set of rules that are modern, flexible and better suited to the needs of today`s not-forprofit sector. Our by-laws committee is working hard to have new by-laws ready for a vote at the AGM in Halifax in 2013. We have set up a not-for-profit task force with key members from our past leadership as well as current chapter presidents. Details have been sent to chapterpresidents and we had our further online meetings on April 10th. Another one is scheduled for May 24th.
Three important decisions have been made by the UOAC Board as recommended by the task force and I am hopeful that the task force is able to agree on three more key points and bring those to the board meeting on June 1st so that we can present the results at the annual general meeting in Halifax on August 18th.
Our District Support Services group has presented to the UOAC Board the first draft copy of the CHAPTER Outreach SUPPORT Services Manual and was accepted by the board. The process of defining and changing the manual will continue over the next year and will ultimately realign our important outreach support with the changing demographics in Canada and bring us closer to achieving the vision presented in our Strategic plan. Thanks to Roger Ivol, Les Kehoe and Di Bracken for your hard work on this process.
The SASO Support Group brochure is now available from UOAC National Office.
A copy has been mailed to all chapter presidents. To obtain more copies of the brochure for your chapter please contact the office either by telephone or email. Thank you to Betty Woolridge and Ann Ivol for your work on producing and distributing this brochure.
The UOAC acknowledges that Revenue Canada has a Disability Tax Credit but does not provide recommendation if individuals should apply or not. The UOAC continues to maintain this policy. We have noted that Form T2201has been clarified as to what an inordinate amount of time means.
Bladder Cancer Canada is hosting a patient conference in Toronto on May 25. UOAC has agreed to set up a booth at this conference with Ann and Roger Ivol as well as John Molnar representing UOAC. It will be held at the International Centre, Mississauga. We encourage all interested people to attend this patient conference. For more information, visit the Bladder Cancer Canada website:
http://www.bladdercancercanada.org/main.php?p=757&lan=1
On May 25, Lakeside Medicine Centre is hosting their 7th Annual Ostomy Education Day at Coast Capri Hotel, 1171 Harvey Ave-nue, Kelowna, BC from 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM. We urge all interested people in the area to attend and help raise funds for the UOAC Ostomy Youth Camp. See more information in this UOAConnection or on our blog.
Our friends to the south of us, the United Ostomy Associations of America (UOAA), have a conference in 2013 and are inviting their Canadian friends to come join them in Jacksonville, Florida. The theme this year is "Bridge to Acceptance". Registration fees and hotel rooms are very reasonably priced.
Activities start on August 7th and continue through August 10th. To find out more information or to register for the 2013 National conference, go to
http:/www.ostomy.org/conference_2013.shtml.Our next biennial conference will be in St. John's Newfoundland in 2014.
Dates are July 31 to August 2. Our conference chair is Delilah Guy and the St. John's and Gander chapters are working together to put on a great conference. We hope to see you all there and take some time to tour around the "Rock" and enjoy the unique experience that is Newfoundland.
A big thank you to the mayor of St. John`s NL, Dennis O'Keefe, who approved a cheque from the city for a donation of $750 to go to the conference. We were surprised to see that amount after the last Provincial budget cut millions of dollars to the cities.
We thank you for visiting our website and hope that the information has been helpful. If you would like to contact UOAC, please address comments c/o President at info1@ostomycanada.ca and/or fill out the form in the "Contact Us" section.
Peter Folk, President
United Ostomy Association of Canada Inc.