NEWS

PAPAL VISIT

Dear Brother and Sisters,

As Vincentians and Catholics, we are delighted to share the joy of the pastoral visit by Pope Francis from July 24th to July 29, 2022. We pray for the health of Pope Francis as he prepares to come to Canada, that he may receive strength and stamina to be with us as we work toward healing, hope and reconciliation.

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ANNUAL DUES APPEAL

We are slowly returning to “normal” after two years of following different local/regional/provincial Public Health requirements. As 2021 financial and statistics reports are being received, we have a better understanding of the impact the pandemic had on conference life, where certain conferences have managed to continue and even thrive, while others went dormant. This latter situation implies that some conferences are not in a position to cover their annual dues.

Since multiple conferences are not in a position to cover their dues, this ultimately has an impact on the National Council of Canada revenues since a significant portion of these dues cover the day-to-day operations. Based on current information received, there is a contributions gap in the order of $35,000.

We are therefore reaching out to conferences and councils that are capable of providing some financial coverage for sister conferences who would not be in a position to pay their annual dues. Funds can be sent to National via the donation portal:

CONTRIBUTIONS

Or by sending a cheque to the National office at: 2463 Innes Road, Ottawa ON  K1B 3K3

Dave O'Connor, Treasurer
National Council

SPIRITUAL REFLECTION

BEING IN COMMUNION WITH THE POOR AND CHRIST

“Blessed are you poor, yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20); “I was hungry and you gave me food to eat” (Matthew 25:35)

Pope Francis writes in “The Joy of the Gospel” about Jesus as the Gospel in person who identifies especially with the little ones, reminding us Christians that we are called to care for the vulnerable of the earth, and pointing to the importance of drawing near to new forms of poverty, in which we are called to recognize the suffering Christ. The Holy Father further calls us to forge a personal and committed relationship with God which at the same time commits us to serving others, and learn to find Jesus in the faces of others, in their voices, in their pleas.

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Ukraine flag

UKRAINE

In solidarity with the people of Ukraine who are being pressured to leave their beloved country to flee the war, and to assist with the exodus of people from Ukraine to neighboring countries or refugees who will be coming to Canada, the National Council of Canada has established a special appeal “Emergency Ukraine”; in conjunction with the International Confederation of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul Commission for International Aid and Development (CIAD) , funds will be directed where aids will be required.

Donations can be made at:

MAKE A DONATION

VINCENTIAN ACTIVITIES

NO POWER, DEEP SNOW, SSVP PROVIDES SUPPORT

Our Lady of Guadalupe Conference in Campbell River on Vancouver Island supports 3 vital outreach programs in the remote northern communities of Tahsis, Gold River and, most recently, Zeballos. In partnership with Loaves and Fishes, Campbell River Food Bank and the BCSPCA, food and personal care items for residents in need and their pets are delivered throughout the year where food security is a major issue.

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OPENING OF A NEW CLOTHING STORE

Saint-Honoré Conference

Only a few months ago, a new committee took over in Saint-Honoré. There are nearly ten people on the committee and about fifteen people are involved in the development of their new clothing store. The people are very dynamic and they have projects that will require the collaboration of Valin's Particular Council and probably that of the Saguenay Lac-St-Jean Central Council.

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NORTH OF 60

SHIPPING CONTAINERS CARRY HELP TO NORTHERN COMMUNITIES

By Scott Hayes, published in St Albert Today, May 28, 2022

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul's North of 60 Project helps northern communities with a little southern hospitality from central Alberta.

Another shipping container has headed off by land and by sea for a journey of weeks and months, and hundreds of kilometres to the hamlet in the Northwest Territories called Ulukhaktok.

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SOCIAL JUSTICE

Online communication

NATIONAL HOUSING CAMPAIGN

As our national housing campaign continues to grow, I would like to invite all councils/conferences to consider their involvement; I acknowledge you may already be active in addressing housing and homelessness in your communities. Perhaps you collaborate with local housing providers to refer persons in need that you have engaged who are in need of housing.

Perhaps you are active in collaborative programs that address the homeless, or at risk of being homeless, population in your community. Perhaps you provide furniture assistance to persons in need. Perhaps you help someone renting as they resolve an issue related to their rental unit. Do you engage with local housing providers or municipal offices?

Please take the time to assess any such efforts that relate to housing and homelessness, keeping in mind collaboration is also a vital component of our national action plan. We often forget all the “little” things we may do.

Please let us know of any of your efforts related to our national housing campaign. We would like to capture this valuable information as the campaign expands.

We can also help anyone considering building any type of housing with resource material and contact information to government programs.

Sincerely,

Jim Paddon, Chair
National Social Justice Committee
National Housing Campaign Committee

QUESTION & ANSWER

QUESTION 

How do I know if my conference or council is at risk of a cyberattack?

ANSWER

As the World becomes more digital, cyber-attacks are on the rise; any organization can be victim of a cyber-attack, regardless of the sector of operation or industry. Charities must be very cognisant of this. Unfortunately, as we have seen with many organizations, it is not if but when a security breach will occur. The key point is, when such a situation occurs, how to handle the situation.

Cybersecurity is no longer the sole responsibility of the information management (IT) department; everyone has a role to play in cyber security, as ultimately everyone is responsible to ensure proper data management. For SSVP, this includes information concerning persons in need, volunteers, members, employees and donors; other Society’s operational information such as financial, minutes, reports, statistics, etc. may also require special security provisions.

We regularly hear stories of systems being hacked by perpetrator(s) posing as employees, leading to an access to the organization’s different systems, including accessing environments such as bank account or payroll processors, where unfortunately, personal information may be divulged.

The 7th principle of the Canadian Government Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) is Safeguards; fundamentally, personal and operational information must be protected by appropriate security relative to the sensitivity of the information; it must cover:

  • Knowledge (e.g. information learned);
  • Hard Copy (e.g. paper);
  • Digital (e.g. Excel spreadsheet, online storage).

Reacting to a security breach:

  • When being made aware of the situation, the first action is to further reduce the risk. Change passwords and limit access to the system that has been identified to have been breached;
  • Assess which other systems may have been compromised indirectly (such as a building security system);
  • Assess the type of information that could have been compromised, and inform the affected individuals. This may require these individuals to perform credit monitoring to protect from identity theft;
  • Depending on the severity of the breach, you may need to reach your financial institution, the local police force, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, and/or the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

To better understand data management risk, please refer to the LEAD-3 module (Information and Privacy Management) available under the formation resources:

Formation Resources

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IN CONCLUSION

We are always looking for Vincentian testimonials and conference/council activity stories. Send your stories to share with Vincentians across Canada to editor@ssvp.ca.

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