On January 20-22, 2017, the Positive Leadership Development Institute held another successful Level 3 – Communications training. Twenty-two participants graduated! For more information on the Positive Leadership Development Institute trainings and to download the workshop applications, visit https://ontarioaidsnetwork.ca/pldi or contact the Manager of PLDI and Special Events, Tara Jewal at tjewal@oan.red

On January 24, 2017, the Gay Men’s Sexual Health Alliance (GMSH) officially announced the launch of The Sex You Want, a campaign aimed at getting cisgender and transgender gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men preventing, testing, and treating HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. This campaign is timely with so many ways to have great sex and maintain your health regardless of your HIV status. For more information on The Sex You Want, please visit http://www.thesexyouwant.ca

People living with HIV continue to be charged with aggravated sexual assault – one of the most serious offences in Canada’s Criminal Code – even where there is no intent to cause harm, no transmission occurs and the risks of transmission are negligible if not zero. This is a travesty of justice. Despite efforts of the Ontario Working Group on Criminal Law and HIV Exposure (CLHE) to engage in good faith with the Ministry of Attorney General since 2010, unjust prosecutions continue in Ontario, ignoring medical evidence and destroying the lives of people living with HIV. On December 1, 2016,

Studies have shown that HIV-positive people who are engaged in regular health care, are on treatment and have an ongoing undetectable viral load do not pass HIV to their sexual partners.  For more information, visit the CATIE website: Undetectable=Untransmittable – CATIE signs on

Early on Friday, January 27, 2017, our dear friend and comrade Glen Wesley Brown passed away after a battle with liver disease. Glen passed away peacefully in the company and care of friends.  Glen had a huge impact on many people in both his personal and professional life. He was a tireless social justice activist, a central figure in the fight against HIV in Canada and a founding member of AIDS Action Now! More recently he became a prominent environmental leader through his work with Greenpeace Canada. In his professional life, Glen helped many social justice organizations communicate better, work

On January 25, 2017, the Ontario Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS (OACHA) delivered a new 10-year HIV/AIDS strategy to Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. The report, entitled HIV/AIDS Strategy to 20126: Focusing Our Efforts: Changing the Course of the HIV Prevention, Engagement and Care Cascade in Ontario, outlines a vision for an Ontario in which new HIV infections are rare and all people living with HIV lead long, health lives. For more information about the strategy, go to: http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/pro/programs/hivaids/news/oacha_20170125.aspx To download a pdf copy of the strategy, go to: http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/pro/programs/hivaids/oach_strategy.aspx

The Ontario AIDS Network Board of Directors is pleased to announce and congratulate the 2016 Honour Roll Award Recipients: Keith Wong, Community Partners Award Christine Leonard, Caring Hands Award Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, Social Justice in HIV/AIDS Award Please join us in celebrating on Wednesday, November 16, 2016 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. in the Grand Banking Hall at One King West Hotel, Toronto. Tickets are available through Event Brite at http://ontarioaidsnetwork2016honourrollreception.eventbrite.ca or by contacting Tara Jewal at tjewal@oan.red or 416-364-4555 ext. 304. Tickets are $35 and include a beverage, hors d’oeuvres and entertainment. The 2016 Honour Roll is

The Ontario AIDS Network Honour Roll was established in 1996 by the Board of Directors of the Ontario AIDS Network (OAN). In the past 21 years the Honour Roll has recognized 113 outstanding individuals and organizations for their contributions as volunteers or staff. It has become one of Ontario’s most prestigious awards within the HIV/AIDS movement. The deadline of August 31, 2016 for the 2016 Honour Roll Nominations is fast approaching! If you know someone who you think deserves to be nominated then now is the time to get your nomination in. Download the nomination package here.

Dear Friends, We are saddened by the news that Marisol Desbiens passed away on May 18, 2016. Marisol worked with the OAN for a brief time from January to March, 2009 as a Program Assistant with the PHA Leadership Program (now PLDI). She was also a co-investigator and research assistant for the 2010 PLDI Positive Change Makers booklet. Marisol was a Peer Research Associate and volunteer with the Canadian HIV Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort Study (CHIWOS). She had been working in the HIV community for the past 8 years. She also volunteered at PWA in the Speaker’s Bureau

Federated Health Charities Corporation kicked off its 2016 Annual Campaign today with a goal to raise a record amount of funds for up to 16 Canadian health charities.  The campaign will run through to July involving members of the OPS to pledge funds through payroll deductions, donations and special events. Federated Health Charities Corporation is a coalition of provincially-based charities in Ontario that began in 1983 and is dedicated to raising funds for its members within the Ontario Public Service that will support health education and awareness, medical research, and client and patient services.