Provincial Government Meeting 2007: Resolutions Report

Submitted by: Sheila Quinn

The provincial delegation of Marilyn V………, Nancy S…., Gloria G……., and myself arrived at BC Legislative Building for the March pre-arranged meetings.

We checked in, obtained security passes, proceeded to the first meeting with members of the New Democratic Party, the critic for health, critic for mental health and critic for the environment.

Booklets with the 2006 resolutions were given to them in order to follow our presentation. After introductions resolutions addressed were – 06.01 Religious Freedom, 06.02 Legal Protection for All Those who Object to the Solemnization of Civil Marriage for Same-Sex Partners, 06.03 GST Exemption on funeral Services and 06.04 Renewable Energy.

They appeared interested, asked questions and made a few comments. The environment critic pointed out that Canadians are among the highest consumers of energy in the world and suggested we encourage our members to start conserving energy by turning off unnecessary electric devices in our homes. The one hour allotted for our meeting was up, we took our leave feeling things had gone well, quickly made our way to our next meeting where we were greeted by the Liberal Caucus Co-ordinator who distributed our booklets.

Randy Hawes, Caucus Whip introduced us and in my intro I pointed out while most of the resolutions were directed to the Federal Government for action we were asking for their support in addressing these issues.

Nancy began with Religous Freedom. The question to this “did we feel the ladies had the right to wear veils”, our reply was YES they should as their religion dictates. Nancy also referred to “banning the use of styrofoam” and commended the government for not using disposable dishes in the building.

As Legal Protection etc was being addressed by Marilyn, one member voiced a strong objection to this “disgusting” resolution and stormed out. Another member added her objection and also left the room.

The rudeness left us a little shaken, however after a moment or two we regained our composure and continued with Increase in Old Age Security which Gloria spoke to tying it in with the need for more low-income housing for seniors being offered by provincial government.

I followed with Renewable Energy – response was, commitments regarding seniors and the environment were given in the Throne and Budget Speech also that BC is working closely with California on environmental issues.

The Caucus Whip commented on 06.05 GST Exemption on funeral expenses stating that “the tax exempt would have to be on a base level only and in regard to 06.06 Labelling and Disposal on Pest Control Products that pesticides in Delta and Richmond leak into ditches, bugs caught with nets are tested and the US uses a lot more than we in Canada do.

Having a little time left allowed us to touch briefly on global warning, poverty and pornography. We were informed that a document entitled “Child Safety Act” has been developed but has hit several political roadblocks, suggestion made that the CWL might consider writing a resolution regarding this issue. Several members thanked and complimented us for an interesting presentation then posed for pictures.

Reports of our next two meetings will be given by Nancy and Marilyn.

Next it was time to go to the spectators gallery where we were introduced to the house by Marilyn’s brother-in-law the Hon John van Dongen, Minister of State for Intergovernmental Relations. Issues debated during question period were interesting, lively, and somewhat noisy At one point the speaker couldn’t control them. Dare we suggest the “bell” or card system?

Our day finished with a visit to Hon John van Dongen’s office who shared with us what a day in the life of an MLA entails. He said how impressed he was in what we had accomplished in a day and highly recommended Judith Reid’s book “The Effective Advocate”. Judith was a speaker at a Provincial convention in Vancouver.

Back at the hotel over coffee, all agreed the day, while busy, had been exciting, productive and a learning experience. All four of us wore our Maple Leaf Service pins to show proud how we were to be members of the Catholic Women’s League representing our Province in presenting your concerns in the form of resolutions.

Let us continue to make our voices heard through Resolutions!

Respectfully Submitted.

Sheila Q…..