President ’ s message
Onward and Upward
reflecting on the past as we move toward a bright new year
As the temperAture gets colder and the end of another year is once again in our sights , we often pause , reflect and take stock . This past Thanksgiving , I gave thanks to my family , my friends and colleagues for all their support in what has been a challenging year for our province and our Association . I also want to thank you , our members and our extended family for all your support .
Over the last 90 years , we have grown and evolved to address new challenges and opportunities , but we haven ’ t strayed from our core purpose — to help protect the things that matter most to you . To help everyone in our organization stay focused on meeting your needs , we place a high value on nurturing a culture of treating each other and our members like we ’ re practically family .
As many of you will have heard , this past summer , our family was rocked . We uncovered a scheme by one of our senior executives to manipulate the financial controls we have in place — to protect AMA , our members and customers — for his own personal financial gain . The alleged fraud resulted exclusively from a breach of our internal financial controls , and in no way compromised the confidentiality of member or customer information . We dismissed the employee immediately and have been working ever since to review all of our financial processes to ensure we never again fall victim to this kind of crime .
You have my commitment that the board , which is made up of 38 member representatives , and the senior team take our obligation to protect the money you entrust us with very seriously . While our external commercial insurance policy ensures we will recover our losses , this event left us all feeling a range of emotions — from disbelief to shock , frustration to anger . Given who we are , what we stand for and the importance we place on our culture and our values , this kind of betrayal of trust has been
especially difficult .
Sadly , there seem to be incidents all around the world that leave us feeling more and more vulnerable these days . From scammers to terrorists , both our security and peace of mind often feel under attack . And yet , even when things seem very difficult , there are reasons to remain positive .
Some of you just celebrated Diwali , the Festival of Lights , and with your family and friends , you lit lamps and candles to symbolize the triumph of light over darkness , knowledge over ignorance . We are also approaching Remembrance Day , a day to reflect on the brave actions of our proud men and women in uniform — the people who sacrifice so much to help protect the people , the freedoms and culture we care about most .
It can be easy , when faced with so much turmoil and uncertainty in the world , to question all that we know is good and right ; to feel as though things are somehow darker than they have been before .
But even as we look toward the close of another year , despite all that we have been through as a province and as an Association this year , I am as confident as ever moving forward . It is the service to our members that keeps us focused and hopeful every day and we thank you — our extended family — for your ongoing support .
However you choose to celebrate , may your holidays be filled with happiness .
Don Smitten President and ceO curtis trent
4 winter 2016
AMA insider