Associations News
New leadership at CANASA

And what better venue than the Toronto Congress Centre where more 2,400 attendees came to visit 169 exhibitors on the show floor which was again sold-out this year. The introduction of education flash sessions directly on the show floor also received very positive comments, as did the return of the Innovation Zone, allowing our exhibitors to showcase new products. If you missed Security Canada Central this year, make sure to mark your calendar for Oct. 24 and 25 of 2012.

The members in attendance at the AGM approved the elections of 10 Presidents, Executive committees and Boards representing our Chapters and Sub-Chapters across each region of our great country.  In total, more than 75 security professionals representing manufacturers, distributors, agents, monitoring stations, installation companies and service providers came together for the betterment of our industry.

Together they elected our National Board of Directors and National Executive. Don Budden of ADT, based in Halifax, and a longtime volunteer of the Association was elected National President. There’s no doubt that Don’s stirling reputation and commitment to advancing CANASA was the reason for the large number of candidates that showed interest in being elected to our Executive Committee.

Philippe Bouchard from ADI based in Montreal was elected First Vice-President and Carl Jorgensen of Core Products Group Canada in Calgary, Second Vice-President.

The appointments of National Treasurer and Secretary was also got a lot of attention and ultimately, Carol Cairns of Cairns Control Systems based in the Greater Toronto Area was appointed Treasurer and Kevin Hincks of Tyco Safety Products based in Vancouver, Secretary.

To complete the team, Karen McGee of Shaw Sabey & Associates in Vancouver who just completed her term as National President, will assume the role of Past President.

Our vision remains to be the recognized voice of security in Canada and I can say with confidence that we have the members, the volunteers and the leaders necessary to advance towards our goal.
Many have told us that to achieve our vision we would need to represent more members from a more diverse group and work more closely with other associations. Our plan for 2012 is to do just that at the National level as well as with the help of our Chapters and Sub-Chapters at the regional level.

There will be many challenges in the next two years for our new leaders, CANASA and our industry. But I have the great sense that we are aware, we are prepared and we are ready, more so than never before.