METIS NA TION Of ONT ARIO Annu A l Repo R t 20122013 11 One of the highlights for these pr ograms this year was the hosting of several Metis community festivals in the sum mer and fall of 2012 These events attracted hundr eds of participants and pr omoted Metis cultur e and heritage M no leads the way The MNO s work with the AHWS is partly how the MNO has built a str ong r eputation as a leader and a str ong partner in the feld of Aboriginal healing and wellness Last year we r eleased our gr oundbr eaking r e sear ch on chr onic diseases within the Ontario Metis population and this critical work with the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Institute for Clinical and Evaluative Science continued this year Recognizing the excellent work the MNO is doing in chr onic diseases and other ar eas the Ministr y of Y outh and Child Ser vices appr oached the MNO to or ganize training sessions for the Ontario Aboriginal community in several ar eas of healing and wellness This training took place in Mar ch 2013 and attracted 20 Aboriginal or ganizations who r eceived training in such ar eas as trauma mental health and victim ser vices Similarly the Ministr y of Health and Long T erm Car e selected the MNO to take on the r ole of lead co or dinator for the Ontario Aboriginal Responsible Gambling Pr ogram The MNO was selected because of our administrative capacity experience working with Aboriginal partners and our r esponsiveness to the needs of the Ministr y In this capacity we hosted a meeting of all nine members of the OARGP in Mar ch 2013 and began laying out plans for the upcoming years The MNO is also a leader in the ar ea of ending violence against Aboriginal women In September 2012 MNO Chair France Picotte and myself participated in a meeting of the Joint W orking Gr oup on V iolence Against W omen which was br ought together by the Minister of Aboriginal Af fairs and the Minister Responsible for W omen s Issues The MNO has been a key player in advancing the agenda to end violence against Aboriginal women W e have participated in fve summits ar e a full signator y to the Framework to End V iolence Against Aboriginal W omen and ar e an active member of the Joint W orking Gr oup The MNO is integrating awar eness of violence against Aboriginal women with all MNO pr ogramming and the W omen s Secr etariat of the MNO has been heavily involved in this critical issue In addition the MNO launched its V ictim Ser vices Pr ogram this year which r eceives support fr om the Ministr y of the Attor neyGeneral Infnity Pr operty Services Another ar ea wher e the MNO has shown leadership is in the feld of social housing which it formerly par ticipated in thr ough the MNO Housing Branch In 201213 the MNO took its experience in this ar ea to a new level by transforming the branch into Infnity Pr operty Ser vices Infnity Pr operty Ser vices is a new agency of the MNO that pr ovides a onestop shop for clients and delivers expertise in pr operty management pr operty admin istration lease administration facility management marketing building condition assessment fnancial man agement and r eporting construction administration and management asset management and ecoener gy audits W e ar e confdent that Infnity Pr operty Ser vices will gr ow to become the frst Aboriginal independent en er gy contractor that Aboriginal peoples will tur n to for home inspections ener gy audits both on and of f r eser ve As Infnity Pr operty Ser vices gr ows it will generate r evenue that will allow the MNO to pr ovide our citizens with gr eater ser vices and pr ogramming that will contribute to a brighter futur e for all Metis in Ontario p r esident l ipinski wit h d r r ui W ang l akehead u niversity s v ice p r esident of r esear ch e conomic d evelopment and Innovat ion during t he r esear ch r endezvous event held at l akehead u niversity on a pril 17 2012