President's message

Aboriginal Nurse, The, Summer 2003

June 18, 2003

The new fiscal year has begun with vigour to move forward in achieving the goals of the Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada. At the outset, I am pleased to announce that Health Canada continues to be a major source of revenue for the Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada (A.N.A.C.). Subsequently, this has presented us with a significant opportunity to work closely with the Office of Nursing Services at First Nations and lnuit Health Branch in areas of Aboriginal health. This in turn provides members with a wide opening for becoming involved in various projects and committee work that will ultimately affect the health of First Nations, lnuit and Metis people in Canada. To guide our work, plans for a think tank is underway and will take place at the beginning of july. And at that time the A.N.A.C. Board of Directors will be determining our strategic path for this fiscal year.

In addition, working relationships with other organizations remains important to us. We are in the process of formalizing a relationship with the National Aboriginal Health Organization. A strong link is the provision of nursing expertise as it pertains to policy affecting Aboriginal peoples health and well-being. Submitting proposals to government and non government organizations in competition for project work is well underway and the development of these working relationships look positive as well.

Our office has been streamlined in spite of the high work load demands of the A.N.A.C. This follows that it will be beneficial to the organization 'to narrow our breadth and increase our depth of involvement' in various initiatives. We accomplish our objectives with less staff. With this, I would like to express our appreciation to our staff Sue MacDonald, Executive Assistant and Claudette Dumont-Smith, Interim National Coordinator for their commitment to the organization.

Planning for the annual general meeting is on the horizon. Once the date and place of the meeting is confirmed you will be notified. The AGM serves as an excellent forum for nurses to discuss issues of common interest. More about topics of discussion will also be provided.

In conclusion, this year is shaping up to be one filled with optimism. Rather than focussing on obtaining adequate revenue to function as an organization, we can now shift our activities entirely to affect Aboriginal health policy. This is an exciting pathway as it the reason for the existence of the A.N.A.C.