The Canadian Identification Society has a 35-year history of supporting forensic identification specialists, both within the borders of Canada and beyond.  I am fortunate to be stepping into the role of President at an exciting time.

To begin with, I have a number of people who I must express my gratitude to for their contributions to making the Canadian Identification Society a more successful, valuable organization.  First, thank you to Identification Canada's editor of ten years - Dr. Della Wilkinson.  Della, you have brought so much to this role and to the society in general that I cannot really do it justice here on paper.  I’d like to welcome Wade Knaap as the new editor and wish him well as he takes over the reins.  Thank you to Stu Wyatt for his work on our new website, which went online during the week of the 2012 CIS Conference in Calgary.  If there are suggestions for making this forum a more useful, interactive tool for our members, do not hesitate to put your suggestions forward to Stu, myself or any member of the board.  Thank you to the members of the Friction Ridge Certification committee for bringing certification to the CIS membership.   Finally, thank you to Charles Caouette, who has graciously agreed to step into the vacancy left when Henry Kinsella stepped down as Executive Director of the Society.  As many across Canada know, he brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and energy to the position.

The next year shows great promise as well as the opportunity for changes and improvements.  I want to emphasize that the more people who are participating, the more successful and rewarding our organization will be for everyone.  As mentioned the Friction Ridge Certification Committee has rolled out its certification program after many years of work.  The executive board is currently exploring taking the CIS to a more electronic format, including membership renewals, membership certificates, and even Identification Canada.  We are also looking into more "value added" items to your membership such as additional spots on the website for things like caselaw relating to our discipline, and localized, small-scale training through the year for members who are unable to attend the educational conferences. 

Each of these things take a tremendous amount of work to bring to fruition and, once again, I encourage you to get involved in a project or bring forward your suggestions for helping our Society grow and improve to meet the challenges of our ever-evolving discipline.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Shawna Laird

President

Canadian Identification Society