Resolutions Communique #8

Submitted by: Sheila Quinn

Greetings,

During Advent let us try to set aside time from our busy lives to pray, reflect and focus on the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Lord.

Resolutions 2007.02 Global accountability for Canadian Registered Mining Companies The D & P card given out in parishes recently asking that we sign and send to the Prime Minister is a great way to show further support for this resolution and D & P. I sent a copy of this resolution to the Social Justice co-ordinator in my diocese, please consider forwarding it to the contact person in your diocese mentioning that it will be including in the resolutions presented when both national and provincial levels of the League meet with Federal and Provincial governments.

All 3 resolutions passed at Montreal national convention appeared in the fall issue of the League magazine and it is important that members follow the suggested action plan not only on these three but also on previous resolutions which can be found on the national web-site www.cwl.ca. One suggestion for council resolutions chairpersons could be to set a goal of getting members at meetings to follow action on at least one resolution a month. Action speaks louder than words!

Now to proposed resolutions for 2008, titles only from your diocese should be submitted to me by January 31 in order for me to forward them to my national counterpart Betty Anne Brown. Please remind parish councils they can still be working on and perfecting their resolutions which hopefully meet the criteria for acceptance by diocesan resolutions committee before being presented on the convention floor and don’t forget to offer assistance if needed.

Can we reach my goal – at least one resolution from each diocese?
Yes, we can by encouraging councils to air their voices on the many issues and concerns we feel strongly about in the form of a resolution.

Environmental news – Paper or plastic? Recent articles in papers and magazines state the good news that some grocery stores offer plastic bags that are bio-gradeable also provide recycling bins for returning plastic bags which are recycled into plastic siding for new home construction as well as offering 3 cents for each bag returned. Another grocery chain is the first major grocery retailer in BC to go plastic-bag free, they sent householders in the area reusable bags made from 85% recycled water bottles, while yet another chain store has a program “Bags fund trees” the 5 cents charge on single use bags are donated to Trees Canada to fund tree planting. All of this helps reduce the number dumped in landfills by a billion a year. You will have noticed as you Christmas shop that many stores have displays with their material bags for sale. Check with stores you shop at, commend them if they are doing something positive for the environment and if not make a suggestion for them to consider.

On that note I wonder how many councils/parishes have discontinued the use of styrofoam cups and plates, perhaps you could check in your diocese and send me numbers of councils who have.

National President, Lorette Noble wrote to Prime Minister Harper expressing disappointment re Bill C22 after reaching the 2nd reading. This is now Bill C2 and is included with a number of other bills and name changed back to “age of consent”.

Some new guidelines for resolutions will be coming from national regarding submissions of resolutions which will be forwarded to you as soon as I receive them.

The League’s national delegation meeting with the government was hopefully to take place late November, news of this will be shared when available.

Exciting news flash! A date has been set in March for our Provincial CWL delegates to meet with both the Liberal and NDP caucus in Victoria to address and discuss League resolutions.

Hopefully your mail box will be full of parish annual reports by Dec 15th !

As we await the coming of the Christ Child let us give thanks to God for our many blessings. May the peace and joy of Christmas be with you and your families and may 2008 be one of good health, happiness and loving one another.

From your sister in the League,
Sheila