Report to the membership.

Abstract

I am grateful to our Editor, Mary Kay Nixon, for the opportunity to introduce myself and provide you with an update of the Board’s activities and directions on your behalf. In October, we emerged from a most successful year that saw us, with stabilized finances, delivering to the membership an Annual Conference of the highest quality thanks to the leadership of Harriet McMillan, the Scientific Committee and the combination of Philippe Lageix and Luc Morin who delivered the Local Arrangements. Notably this was an independent, financially successful meeting attended by well over 200 registrants demonstrating this Academy’s coming of age. As well and due to the efforts of Mary Kay Nixon, additional revenues flowed to the Review. The Board has been engaged in considerable brainstorming in the two months and is becoming quite proficient at email decisions and teleconferences. This communication provides an opportunity for the membership to share the goals that the Board has developed and the strategies used or under consideration to achieve them. Driven by our development, the current goals are to improve the benefits of membership for an academy of some 400 members and to have CACAP play a strong role on the national scene - particularly in the debates and decisions that are underwriting the matter of subspecialty recognition. A context for this has arisen through several developments. It has been partly created as the Board has worked to improve and stabilize our financial position. The finances for the Annual Conference and the Review are now independent of the Operating Budget with the latter’s revenue derived primarily from annual membership fees. These deliverables look now to generate their own revenues to cover expenses and generate surplus for their ongoing activity. It is recognized that this will be harder for the Review but revenue neutrality remains the goal over time. Furthermore, change is upon us. Liz Manson, who has so capably provided administrative leadership for us, has announced her ‘retirement’. We need to find a new Administrator and a new home for the National Office. Finally, subspecialty recognition discussions have continued under the umbrella of the Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA) and CACAP is actively engaged.