It is with great honour and pride that I acknowledge the recognition of the TD Bank 2016 Award for the “10 most influential Hispanic Canadians”, presented by His Excellency Luis Almagro Lemes, Secretary General of the Organization of American States. I find it particularly humbling to be spotlighted for my work and as a Hispanic Canadian.
This year, representatives from the Government of Canada gathered on Parliament Hill to mark World AIDS Day with a public testing event and a flag raising ceremony. This was the very first time, since its inception in 1992, that the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS was invited to Ottawa to mark this important awareness day.
This year’s Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Week was full of activities, with 11 events held across the country between December 1st and December 6th. Starting in Ottawa on World AIDS Day, the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (CAAN) launched this important time for awareness in the nation’s capital, alongside partners and representatives from First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities. The main drive for the week was to bring together government and community to help reduce stigma around HIV.
