Happy Pre-Halloween!

Well as always I am a little late with my "weekly" post. It has been an exciting few weeks though. My last post talked a bit about the National Canadian Alliance of Community Health Centre Associations Annual Conference that was being held in Saint John. I am happy to say that the event was a huge success. There were many people from all over Canada sharing the innovative ways Community Health Centres are re-shaping Canada's healthcare system. Most inspiring was a talk by Michael Rachlis on how Community Health Centre's could be the second phase of Medicare and provide much needed innovation Canada's health system. In fact, I am now reading his latest book "Prescription for Excellence" and would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in healthcare.

Another great event I attended last week was the Annual Launch of the Saint John Community Loan Fund Christmas Card Fundraiser. There are some wonderful artists contributing their talents this year. To find out more about the Community Loan Fund and/or to purchase Christmas cards, click here.

On Friday of last week, FUSION Saint John Inc. had an Octoberfest event at O'Leary's pub and it was also a huge success. One of the goals of the event was to recruit more members and we were able to accomplish that task. I am on the Board for FUSION and am also the chair of the Community Engagement Committee which is always looking for new members so if you are interested please email me at dannyj@nbnet.nb.ca

Community Engagement Committee
Make Saint John your home by giving back to the community. Saint John's young residents have a lot to contribute - they just need to know where to direct their resources. The Community Engagement Committee (formerly known as Social Activism) liaises with local non-profit and charitable organizations to find opportunities for FUSION members to be involved. Partnering with the Events Committee, the Community Engagement Committee plans FUSION events that provide great networking opportunities to members and raise awareness of issues within the community.

On Sunday afternoon at attended an event organized by Port City Rainbow Pride Inc. where the discussion centered around the idea of merging many of the groups in Saint John that support the gay community into one overarching group. The other groups included Safe Space - Fundy Region, UNBSJ Q-Collective and the Saint John Chapter of PFLAG. I think this would be a great idea and hope that the leadership exists to move this venture forward. They are all great organizations and could benefit from the each others different mandates. If anyone out there is in need of support due to your sexuality or the sexuality of someone you know then I would encourage you contact one of the above mentioned groups. Get involved!

In my spare time I have been working away at my French and Management courses, was on call with Victim Services for one weekend and spent all day Saturday moving sixty pound patio blocks into my dog kennel. Needless to say, I am a little sore today! My brother also just had surgery in Halifax to reverse an ostomy he had previously as a result of Crohn's disease. Four out of my five family members have the disease so I am quite well versed on it and am especially grateful that I managed to escape the gene. Anyway, he is doing well and I am also very grateful for that as it has not been an easy road! Have a great week!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I know I am a bit late but it is better then not at all. So, what are you thankful for?

I spent most of the last week completing my second assignment for my Management course. It was 28 pages long this time. If each one keeps getting longer then I am not looking forward to the seventh one! The second one was interesting to me though because it dealt with media relations issues. I also had my second French class this past week and it is starting to come back to me. A summer break can really set you back when it comes to learning languages.

I had a couple of meetings last week. One was with the Education to Employment group of Vibrant Communities Saint John. We are just about to release our report. It has been a long time in the works but I think it will be a valuable resource to those working at helping people move out of poverty. Stay tuned for the report! The other was with the Sex Trade Action Committee and things are coming along with this committee as well. I will report more on it in a later post.

I went home to P.E.I. this past weekend for Thanksgiving. It was a longer drive then normal as we picked up my sister in Fredericton. It was a great weekend though. The weather was sunny and warm and I got to see me nieces, siblings, parents and grandmother. I mostly relaxed but did help with dinner preparations. It is always nice to get home and I am thankful that I have a home to go to and a wonderful family. I also realize that many people do not and this is always in the back of my mind and I try my best to help some of those people out. I hope everyone reading this takes some time to think about what you are thankful for.

For the rest of this week I will be attending the Canadian Alliance of Community Health Centres Association Annual Conference which is taking place in Saint John. People from all over Canada will be coming to Saint John to discuss the determinants of health and how Community Health Centres are key to taking action. I was a part of the planning committee so I am hoping it all goes off without a hitch.

Finally, if you have some free time over lunch tomorrow come and check this out:

Following the first successful discussion on Community Activism, Dialogue Saint John will be hosting their second in a series of quarterly lunchtime discussion sessions on Wednesday, October 11th at 11:45 am at the Aliant Learning Centre - entrance from the Brunswick Square Pedway near the entrance to the market.

Please join us and guest Speaker Bob Manning, Chair of the Saint John Board of Trade, for a discussion on the proposed Racino project in Saint John.

What is a Racino and what does it mean to you? Does Saint John need a Racino? Will it bring more tourism dollars? Will it be a precursor to greater development in our city? What are the social and community implications? These are some of the tough questions that have been floated in the media and by various interest groups around this development. Now it's time to hear what YOU have to say about this project.

Dialogue Saint John is an organization aimed at promoting discussion and action around the issues that are important to young people aged 20-35.