This past April, we were granted an appearance before the Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada, under the guidance of Commissioner Roy Romanow. With just one week's notice, we were able to attend and address Commissioner Romanow's questions. When he asked for further corroboration of the views expressed, we presented his commission with a comprehensive report which, we trust, will answer any outstanding issues that were raised.

Immediately following our appearance before Commissioner Romanow, we were alerted by a member to a newspaper article, which ran in the St. Petersburg Times and dealt with the INS proposing a change to the B-2 Visitors' Visa. This one phone call triggered a solid lobbying campaign that resulted in the CSA being invited to testify in Washington before the United States House Small Business Committee.

As a Canadian association rightfully cannot intervene in another government's affairs, our initial plan was to approach those who would be most affected by the loss of snowbird travel ­ the sunbelt states ­ and let them intervene in their government's affairs. Once momentum took hold, the CSA was used as a resource for many American associations and we were credited by Dr. Pamella Dana of Governor Jeb Bush's office as being the group to bring the issue to their attention.

Receiving a letter from the INS exempting Canadians (who are otherwise eligible to cross the border) from the new B regulations was an incredible acknowledgement of our work as an organization dedicated to protecting the rights of Canadian travellers. I stress the word traveller, as our members seem to get younger with each passing year, and many are not yet retirees ­ at least not full time. Perhaps they are Canadians cutting back from their year-round work schedule slightly, and travelling to see how they will enjoy the lifestyle, later on ­ or visiting various locales in order to narrow down their retirement location choices.

Many individuals and organizations helped us during our campaign to modify the INS proposals. We have endeavoured to thank all of them in our Special Report and we truly hope that we have not excluded anyone.

Our presence in Washington was quite unexpected (but we were a great choice as ambassadors!), and I would like to extend my sincere thanks to our Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). Everyone with whom we dealt answered our many questions and we were treated as honoured guests while in Washington.

As we have experienced DFAIT's professionalism first-hand, we thought that our members would appreciate knowing how this very important government department works on behalf of all Canadians. In this report, you'll find an article outlining how consular services can benefit the Canadian traveller, a listing of the various consular offices in the United States, plus important telephone numbers and Web site information.

We are involved in a number of initiatives at the moment ­ all of which are keeping us very busy. Thank you for your support and we look forward to sharing many more challenges in the future.

It has been a pleasure to meet so many of you during the year, and to talk to others on the phone. We welcome your questions, comments and suggestions. They help us to work more effectively on your behalf. Please encourage others to find out more about the CSA and to join our organization that is there, year round, for all travellers young and old.