Spoiler alert: Today's introduction is not a rant, for once! (It's actually more of an Oh, Canada!)

Canadian members of the IAPP make up just under 10 percent of the global membership. Since 2005, eight Canadians or Canadian organizations have won an IAPP privacy award. The past chairman of the board for the IAPP is a Canadian—Jeff Green, CIPP/C, from the Royal Bank of Canada—and currently Jennifer Stoddart represents the nation on the global board. We have a Canadian Advisory Board that provides us with direction and ideas, and we have dozens of other Canadian volunteers that help on other advisory boards.

IAPP Canada has, since its inception, continued to grow at an amazing rate. One of the reasons is that the association is responsive to its members. To this end, it’s important to establish lines of communication so that the association can continue to serve us well. 

In this vein, I just wanted to reiterate that I’m happy to get your comments, suggestions and feedback on what the IAPP is doing for Canadian privacy professionals. When I do, I am quick to speak to IAPP staff about your ideas or concerns, and the feedback always results in something positive.

This week, I am delivering some of your thoughts, ideas and feedback in person, with a visit to the global headquarters in sunny New Hampshire. Yesterday, I gave a little talk to the IAPP staff entitled “What the IAPPer Needs To Know About Canada.” As a global association, the typical IAPPer now needs to know about 80 countries in which we have members, but I thought getting a good dose of Canadiana couldn’t hurt. And, no, I didn’t only talk about hockey.