CFUW Ontario Council News December 2024

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Education | Action | Advocacy

CFUW Ontario Council News

In this Issue

Message from Sandra Shaw, President 2024-2026, Ontario Council
Dates of Importance/Holy Days
Happy Hanukkah
Special Event - 2025 New Year Celebration!
Report from the November Speaker Series - Affordable Housing
Charitable Trust Fellowship and Award Applications
Resolutions 2025
Furthering our Advocacy
Child and Family Poverty
Environment Corner
Presentations to OC Clubs
Membership Matters
CFUW Op-Ed Challenge
16 Days of Activism
Club News & Events

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A Message from Sandra Shaw

Where did 2024 go? In fact, where did the last half decade go? It has been five years since we first heard rumours of a contagion circulating in China. (My heart goes out to all who have lost loved ones due to COVID.) We certainly didn’t expect the monumental societal shifts that occurred as a result. Rising violence against women, girls and non binary individuals, increases in the number of people with mental health issues, mass labour markets working from home, exacerbation of existing inequities and the creation of new ones, wars, increased mistrust and distrust of authority and governments – the list seems never ending.

One change in the last few years that I find hard to manage is how angry and self absorbed so many people have become. For many, the anger is often diffuse and generalized which is bad enough. But when this anger is directed at colleagues, when anger affects our patience, our ability to see others’ viewpoints, our understanding and compassion, we need to stop and reflect and reset our barometers. We need to ask ourselves why we are angry, what good the anger does and how we can use the anger to further collective action. We need to practice self restraint, channel the anger into worthy accomplishments. We need to use the energy anger creates to do good in this world.

Fortunately, other emotions run freely at this time of year: love, hope, excitement, gratitude, and joy and anger is put aside, at least temporarily. Strange how we often reserve these elating emotions for only this period of celebration. Perhaps a conscious effort should be made by each of us to infuse every day with these positive feelings. As members of CFUW, we are committed to changing the world but we may need to change ourselves and the way we react to life’s stimuli to restore and re-balance our personal lives and our Clubs.

December is also a month for charity. There are so many now with so little. If you find yourself with some extra time in your month, perhaps you could volunteer a few hours at a soup kitchen, a food bank, a women’s shelter or a warming centre. If you have no time or are unable to volunteer, money given to any of these goes a long way.

I hope each of you makes time over the coming month to concentrate on your own health. Take a few moments amid the hustle and bustle for a good cup of tea, a nice coffee or a bit of brandy and eggnog to reflect on all the good that has happened to you over the last year – the friendships, the laughter, the smiles on the faces of those you have helped. Consciously create tranquility – it will do you the world of good.

I wish you peace of soul and warmth of spirit during this month of festivities. As clichéd as it may sound, you all will be in my thoughts during the holidays, even those whom I have yet to meet.

Stay well, be safe and be kind. See you in the New Year!

Sandra Shaw

President, CFUW Ontario Council (2024-2026)

Dates of Importance/Holy Days

Dates of Importance/Holy Days for December and January

Christian: December 25th - The proclaimed birth day of Christ

Orthodox Christian:

January 6th – Nativity of Christ (Armenian Orthodox Christian)

January 7th – Incarnation of Christ (Orthodox Christian)

Jewish: December 25th – January 2nd Hannukah

Muslim: There are no holy days for Muslims in December 2024.

African-American: December 26th – January 1st – Kwanzaa

Happy Hanukkah

Chanukah/Hanukkah is an eight day “festival of lights” celebrated with lighting of a menorah for eight nights, each day adding one more candle which is lite by the “shamash” or helper candle in the middle. It’s a celebration of re-taking the Great Temple in Jerusalem when Jews fought for religious freedom from the Greeks. The small amount of oil that was used to light the lamps in the temple “miraculously” lasted eight days.

Traditionally families gather to eat foods fried in oil such as potato latke (pancake) garnished with applesauce or sour cream, and jelly-filled sufganya (doughnut) and children play with a four sided spinning top called a dreidel. This year the first night of Chanukah is December 25^th.

Special Event - 2025 New Year Celebration!

CFUW Ontario Council

cordially invites

Club Presidents, Leaders and Members

to our Presidents Plus

Virtual New Year's Party

Monday, January 13th, 2025

4:00 - 5:30 PM

Let's celebrate 2025 together!

Bring your favourite libation - Toast the New Year

Featuring Guest Speaker: The Honourable Marilou McPhedran will address

How to Achieve Respect and Civility in Today's Society

Canadian lawyer, human rights advocate and politician,

Marilou McPhedran became a member of the Senate in October 2016.

The event will also feature:

Update on a new CFUW Grants Program

Sharing Corners

Door Prizes

This is a free, virtual event on our Zoom platform. Please register to attend.

Report from the November Speaker Series Affordable Housing: A Human Right

Ontario Council conducted a survey last spring to ascertain what issues were uppermost in the collective minds of our Clubs. Our Speakers Series is curated to address these issues and bring timely and actionable information to you for the purpose of knowledge building and to provide a basis for focused advocacy efforts. From that survey, Affordable Housing emerged as the issue of greatest concern from an advocacy perspective and it is this issue that panelists addressed at the November 30^th.

The November 30th event hit the mark on addressing many of the issues facing us today. It was a very powerful and informative session. For a full report of the session and access to the resources that were shared during the presentation, click here.

Charitable Trust Fellowship and Award Applications

Applications for the 2025-26 CFUW Charitable Trust Fellowships and Awards are now open! Every year, the Charitable Trust supports women pursuing graduate studies and research, recognizing the importance of education in advancing gender equality and prosperity. Applications are due January 10, 2025.

For more information about how to apply, please see:

www.cfuwcharitabletrust.ca/fellowships-awards/how-to-apply

RESOLUTIONS 2025

We have received two Notices of Intent to consider for Resolutions 2025 at the OC AGM next May. The clubs are continuing to work on these resolutions and the full text of each will be presented after the January review.

Congratulations to CFUW Orillia and CFUW Owen Sound for these well-thought potential resolutions:

In addition, CFUW Milton and CFUW Perth and District are collaborating on a Period Poverty resolution for CFUW National.

2025 Resolution Intents and Proposers - CFUW National

Ending Menstrual Inequality / Mettre fin aux inégalités liées à l’accès aux produits menstruels (CFUW Milton and District & CFUW Perth and District)
Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Services / Garantir l’accès aux services de santé sexuelle et reproductive (Advocacy Committee / Comité de défense des intérêts)
Safeguarding 2SLGBTQ+ Rights / Protéger les droits des personnes 2ELGBTQ+ (Advocacy Committee / Comité de défense des intérêts)
[AMENDED TITLE] The Violence Link: Strengthening Support for Individuals Fleeing Domestic Violence / Le Lien entre violences sur les animaux et les humains: Renforcer le soutien aux personnes fuyant une situation de violence conjugale (CFUW Prince George)
Equitable Phase Out of Fossil Fuels / Élimination graduelle et équitable de l’utilisation de combustibles fossiles (Environmental and Climate Change Sub-Committee / Sous-comité de l’environnement et du changement climatique)
Archiving Select CFUW Adopted Resolutions / Archivage de certaines résolutions adoptées de la FCFDU (Adopted Resolutions Review Sub-Committee / Sous-comité de révision du livre des résolutions adoptées)
Housing – A Human Right, A Social Good and Meeting Core Housing Needs / Le logement – un droit humain, un bien social, et la couverture des besoins essentiels en matière de logement (Advocacy Committee / Comité de défense des intérêts)

Congratulations to CFUW Hamilton!

CFUW Hamilton’s resolution entitled A Comprehensive Maternal Death Prevention Strategy, adopted by CFUW at the 2023 AGM, has been selected along with three other resolutions (Advancing Sustainable Development and Gender Equality through International Trade Agreements, Preserving Deep Sea Ecosystems, and Restore, Preserve and Protect Global Peatlands) by National’s International Relations Committee (IRC) to be submitted to GWI (Graduate Women International) for consideration as a global resolution.

The process for consideration by GWI requires CFUW IRC selection, based on the resolution’s applicability to global issues and need. The IRC modifies the resolution, moving it from a Canadian national perspective to a global one. CFUW’s National Board must approve the selection before the IRC submits it. Once approved, the IRC proposes the resolution to GWI. The resolution then undergoes a rigorous review process similar to CFUW’s review for resolution adoption. Once this review is completed, the resolution stands before the GWI membership for possible adoption at GWI’s next AGM.

Ontario Council Clubs’ work, often based on a local need, can make a difference beyond the province and country, affecting women and girls across the globe. Although CFUW Hamilton’s resolution faces a lengthy review process, it has already turned ripples into waves.

FURTHERING OUR ADVOCACY

Community Safety and Well-being Plans

In 2019, the Ontario Government passed a law requiring all municipalities to prepare Community Safety and Well-being Plans (CSWBP) as an amendment to the Police Services Act, 1990. The CSWBP legislation requires municipalities to:

proactively address community safety and well-being risks,
consult with a multi-sectoral advisory committee,
include the police service board and other local service providers on the advisory committee, and,
review and revise the plan every four years.

At the time of the law’s passing, communities were given two years to provide their plans to the government, that is, by 2021. This means that for most municipalities these CSWBPs are to be submitted again in 2025.

This legislation has several implications for our Warming Centres and IPV advocacy initiatives. Continue reading...

Warming Centres Come in Different Packages: CFUW Cornwall Supports the House of Lazarus in Its Work to Support The Unhoused

CFUW Cornwall has been supporting House of Lazarus which runs an ‘unusual’ Warming Centre in Eastern Ontario. House of Lazarus is a small rural not for profit whose mission is “Building community. Sharing hope.” The organization mainly addresses food insecurity and housing insecurity. The House of Lazarus receives no government funding and relies on partnerships and volunteers to assist in the many programs that it offers.

Read the full article here.

CHILD AND FAMILY POVERTY

For Clubs working on or interested in Poverty, Child Poverty and/or Child Care, here is the 2024 national report card, titled “Ending Child Poverty: The Time is Now,” released on Tuesday, Nov. 19 by Campaign 2000: End Child and Family Poverty, a national non-partisan coalition monitoring federal progress on child and family poverty in Canada. The report is sobering.

Ending Child Poverty: The Time Is Now

ENVIRONMENT CORNER

A Guide to a Sustainable Christmas* in Canada

Published online by ECO Canada, December 2023

As the festive season approaches, Canadians have a wonderful opportunity to celebrate Christmas in a way that not only brings joy to their families but also minimizes the impact on the environment. Here at ECO Canada, we are trying our best to practice a sustainable Christmas with thoughtful choices while still enjoying festivities!

Here is a synopsis of some green and sustainable festive ideas presented in our guide:

Eco-Friendly Decorations!
Local and Sustainable Gifts: Shop Canadian
Mindful Gift-Giving: Quality Over Quantity
Energy-Efficient Lighting!
Waste Reduction and Recycling: Wrap it Up Sustainably
Embrace the Outdoors!

To see the complete article, click HERE.

*Ontario Council recognizes that not all OC Club members celebrate Christmas. Other religions observe holy days during this time period as well. For those whose observances include decorating and gift giving, you may find ideas imparted by this article of value.

An Indigenous-led Conservation Effort

An Indigenous - led conservation effort inspired by … Wall Street?

That’s right, a new $375-million deal will help protect over 30 per cent of the Northwest Territories in total. That’s not all — the agreement is also one of the largest of its kind in the world.

Signed by 22 Indigenous governments and organizations along with the federal government, the Government of Northwest Territories and private donors, the agreement aims to establish new protected and conserved areas, Guardian programs, ecotourism, traditional economic activities and climate research. The size of the new protected and conserved areas is approximately 200,000 square kilometres, or roughly the size of Great Britain.

Read the complete article here.

Presentations to OC Clubs – Yours for the Asking

Ontario Council has several presentations which you may ask to be given to your Club by OC Board members and/or experts from other Clubs, in person or by Zoom, at mutually convenient times. Here is a list of those we have on hand. If you would like to have OC present to your Club on any other issue, please contact Sandra Shaw (President) for discussion.

MEMBERSHIP MATTERS

New Member Handbooks

New Member handbooks are a great idea! They are a handy reference for new and old members alike. The handbook will look different for each of our clubs. What matters is that it contains what we think our newest sisters need to know.

We have collected a couple of examples of New Member Handbooks and made them available on our website. There is also a template for your use. If your club has also developed a handbook that you are willing to share, please forward it to: membership@cfuwontcouncil.org.

To access the resources that we have collected, click HERE.CLICK

HERE

Watch for it! Expect an announcement about new grants available from CFUW National to help clubs:

raise your profile in the community
boost your membership
help with retention and recruitment

The winner of the National Op-Ed Challenge prize draw was…

CFUW Thunder Bay!!

Several OC Clubs had their op-eds published. All of these are excellent opinion pieces deserving of our attention and recognition. Here is a sampling of what Ontario Clubs have written:

CFUW Thunder Bay, “Who are we willing to let die?” by Elizabeth Poulin, published in the Chronicle-Journal
CFUW Sudbury, “Our toxic politics: A call for civility and respect” by Jane Cox and Brenda Koziol, published in the Sudbury Star
CFUW Georgetown, “CFUW-Georgetown says Canada needs strong drinking water regulations now” by Jane Watson, published in Halton Hills Today
CFUW Milton & District, “Unaffordable or unattainable? Is Halton ensuring adequate housing options for our seniors?” by Marina Huissoon, published in Milton Today
CFUW Markham-Unionville, “Find your passion, find a cause!” by Deb Smith
CFUW Southport, “The Change: Pre, peri, and post menopause – it’s time to discuss it” by Pat Sanagan
CFUW Barrie & District, “It's time to deinstitutionalize older Canadians” by Brenda Quinlan
CFUW Guelph, “Bringing up the idea of basic income, again” by Elizabeth Fisk

Congratulations to all clubs who took the time to create an Op-Ed. These pieces serve to spotlight alternate avenues for our advocacy and help to increase our visibility. Thank you!

16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence

Most of our clubs have organized and participated in events and campaigns to mark the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. Our social media feed is full of pictures, posters, and write-ups about all of the the various things you are doing. Congratulations to all of our clubs. Well done!

Lighting the Night Purple: A Unified Stand Against Gender-Based Violence

Inspired by CFUW Oakville’s initiative last year, CFUW Aurora/Newmarket and CFUW Markham-Unionville have joined forces to illuminate York Region in purple for the UN's International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25. This joint effort marks the start of 16 Days of Action, advocating to end gender-based violence.

The 16 Days of Action advocacy kit encourages CFUW clubs to engage local government leaders to light up city halls and public buildings in purple or orange, symbolizing solidarity in the fight to stop gender-based violence.