As with so many good causes, the goal of raising radon awareness in Canada depends on the support and participation of a diverse group of stakeholders. In the case of radon awareness, that support and participation has been yours; be it your time, resources or skills, your contributions have made a difference. Whether you’ve been a part of the radon stakeholder network for many years or whether you’re just getting started, we want to thank you.
This spring, Health Canada’s Take Action on Radon program is undergoing a change. Great strides have been taken in the past 5 years, and it’s now up to a new group of partners to take on the role of coordinating stakeholder efforts across the country. We want to thank the New Brunswick Lung Association for their leadership over the past five years, as well as the Ontario Lung Association and Scout Environmental for the support they provided.
The Canadian Cancer Society, CAREX Canada and CARST (the Canadian Association of Radon Scientists and Technologists) are no strangers to radon. We have been working alongside you and other stakeholders for the past five years, and we look forward to continuing that collaboration. As we move forward with the Take Action on Radon program, our goal is to highlight the contributions of each stakeholder group across the country and coordinate initiatives to maximize impact.
Our vision for the Take Action on Radon program is to provide a national hub for radon stakeholders. We will focus on developing and supporting strong provincial groups, coordinating and assisting with awareness activities, and providing regular communication via a bi-monthly newsletter and consistent use of social media to highlight and celebrate your initiatives and events.
We look forward to hosting meetings for provincial stakeholder groups in June to share our vision for the upcoming November Radon Action Month campaign, to gather ideas and input, and to learn how we can support the work that each of you are doing. We will follow up with another email to let you know the date and login information for the meeting in your province.
Finally, don’t forget about the Radon Reduction Sweepstakes! A great initiative developed by the previous Take Action on Radon team, the sweepstakes was open until June 30th2018. This contest is a great way to encourage homeowners to reduce their radon levels. By having a radon mitigation system installed by a C-NRPP professional before June 30th, homeowners may enter to win one of 2 $1000 prizes available per region. This year’s contest is now closed, and we will be announcing the winners by September 15, 2018. Watch for that exciting news, as well as announcements about next year’s contest.
We are in the process of setting up a new dedicated Take Action on Radon email address and social media accounts. Once we have those set up, we will let you know and encourage you to contact us! If you know of someone who would like to receive our communications, please feel free to forward our information or send their name to us. We will be in touch shortly to arrange upcoming meetings.
Thank you,
The Take Action on Radon Team
Jenny Byford (Canadian Cancer Society), Anne-Marie Nicol (CAREX), Pam Warkentin (CARST) and Erin Curry (CARST)
