The annual general meeting of the Ontario Division of Canadian Pensioners Concerned was held on April 28, 2008 at Metro Hall, Toronto. During the morning session annual reports were presented, Gail Beatty brought greetings from the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario and Winnie Fraser-Mackay, National President, spoke about her visits to organizations across the country and stressed the need to work toward unity so that seniors speak strongly with one voice.

Gerda Kaegi introduced the guest speaker, Paul Williams. He has taught and published nationally and internationally on health systems and health policy with emphasis on the role of community-based services in maintaining the health and well-being of seniors. He was Co-Director of Medicare to Home and Community (M-THAC) and is the Co-Chair with Janet Lum, from Ryerson University, of the Canadian Research Network for Care in the Community (CRNCC). With Raisa Deber he is Co-Director of the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) team in Home and Community Care and Health Human Resources, where he leads research examining the balance of institutional and community-based care for seniors, children and ethno-racial communities.

Dr. Williams is looking for alternatives to institutionalization. He pointed out that Medicare only cov-ers a person in the doctor's office or the hospital and the question is how to sustain medical care beyond this point. The population is aging, the advances in medical technology give new choices, and there is increasing public expectation. There is a need to allocate resources. LHINs and the Aging at Home Strategy plan give positive outlooks.

CRNCC is studying what should be supported beyond Medicare. It was started in 2005 and is a knowledge network which links people to knowledge, raises the profile of home and community care, distinguishes evidence best practices from marketing best practices, and sponsors a series of symposia. It supports integrated managed care through home and community care and a shift away from institutionalizing people.

Dr. Williams' presentation can be viewed on CPC's website www.canpension.ca

The afternoon session began with the presentation of the Jean Woodsworth Award to Mark Nowaczynski. This was followed by a viewing of House Calls, a documentary about Dr. Nowaczynski's work.