Catholic Women’s League of Canada | BC and Yukon Council

Submitted by: Sheila Quinn

What does it mean to legislate?

According to the dictionary definition – to make law.

What are government elected representatives responsible forÉ

To study, debate, and consider Canadians’ views/concerns before supporting or rejecting a Bill however bare in mind that once a government Bill is introduced to the Legislature it is the government’s expectation that the Bill will pass and they will bring considerable resources to make this happen.

Did you know that a Bill must pass three readings in the House of Commons or the Legislative Assembly before it becomes law?

Here are the three steps -

• Bills are introduced in the House, given First Reading, put on the agenda and the Minister may explain the purpose of the Bill
• Before the Second Reading debate begins, a Bill may be ordered referred to a Standing Committee for review and/or hearings.
• If given a Second Reading, it may, by unanimous consent be ordered for a Third Reading otherwise it is referred to a Committee.
• When the Committee reports the Bill to the House it is ordered for a Third Reading.
• Federal bills once passed are sent to the other House, the Senate, where the process starts again from the First Reading.
• Last step – If the Bill passes Three Reading stages it is then presented to the Lieutenant Governor for Royal Assent, if approved it is then known as an act given a statue number.

What are the duties of the legislation chair?

• To become familiar with parliamentary web sites
• Monitor and study the progress of the Bills on a regular basis » Read the rest of this entry »

BC & Yukon delegation to Victoria, meeting with Liberal and NDP MLAs

March 31, 2010 — For the fourteenth time, a delegation from our BC & Yukon Provincial Council of The Catholic Women’s League of Canada met in Victoria with Liberal and New Democratic party MLA’s to present and discuss CWL resolutions. The delegation consisted of president, Marianna Caldwell, president-elect, Nancy Simms, and myself, Sandra Stajduhar, Resolutions chairperson. Legislation chairperson, Sheila Quinn, helped us in the preparation.

Information on the CWL and the resolutions was prepared and given to the MLA’s beforehand, and included all 2009 resolutions as well as information on some past resolutions still of interest. Briefs, bibliographies and action plans were included. In the oral presentation, specific items of concern, particularly in BC, were highlighted as we asked for ongoing support in resolving issues.

The government was commended on the recent legislation to ban the use of hand held cell phones while driving – the subject of a 2008 resolution. It was requested that more driver education be given, with the emphasis on safety. 2007 statistics on injury collisions show that driver inattention was the major contributing factor – 34.3%. A 2009 resolution asks that a province wide policy be made to govern the use of personal electronic devices in schools and that the policy be widely distributed to both students and parents. We were advised to work with parent and teacher groups to determine specific restrictions to be included in such a policy.

The resolution “Hate Messages” urges the federal government to restrict proceedings on matters of hate solely under the Criminal Code and to repeal section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act entitled Hate Messages. BC has similar provisions to section 13 in its BC Human Rights Code under section 7. Criminal Code proceedings require proof of beyond a reasonable doubt, whereas the Canadian Human Rights Act uses the lower civil standard of balance of probabilities. Persons charged under the Criminal Code are entitled to a presumption of innocence, but when a complaint is made under the Human Rights Act, the accused must prove their innocence. As well, the Criminal Code excludes persons who in good faith express or attempt to establish by argument an opinion upon a religious subject. One MLA commented that he would have thought that the Catholic Women’s League would be fighting for the victims of hate messages. It was emphasized that the Catholic Women’s League certainly does not condone hate messages, but urges that they be prosecuted solely under the Criminal Code of Canada.

» Read the rest of this entry »

Submitted by: Sheila Quinn

Greetings as we move into the month of March!

It almost feels like legislation chairs have been on a sabbatical with Parliament being prorogued for the second time during the last two years, however with the opening of the 3rd session of the 40th Parliament on March 3rd it is time to ‘tune in’‘ look closely for previous Bills, especially those which died on the order of paper.

We need to monitor Bills requiring immediate action that are being re-introduced coming before the House and this can be done by forwarding info to parish counter parts by e-mail if you have already sent a communiqué.

One of these is Bill C-384 (right to die with dignity) has surfaced again and has passed the first reading on March 16th. Definite date for the second hour of debate has not as yet been scheduled but could possibly be May.

Another is Bill C-205 (an Act respecting labeling of food products) passed 1st reading on March 3rd. You may recall our resolutions passed on food labeling:

• 1997.06 Genetically Engineered Foods
• 2002.06 Labeling on Prepackaged Foods
• 2008.04 Accurate Food Labeling

In relation to Resolution 2000.8 – Peter Julian, MP from Burnaby-New Minster re-introduced Bill C-463 An Act to Prohibit Sweatshop Labour Goods to the House of Commons on March 3rd. This Bill is asking goods that fail to meet international labour standards be put on a prohibited list. Encourage councils to act on these Bills.

Check the resolutions listed on the National web site under legislation and make a suggestion to parish council legislation chairs to focus on at least one of them at a council meeting emphasizing that unless the action plan is followed in order for legislation to hopefully happen.

Have you read over March 2nd – budget in our own BC Provincial Parliament and how it affects people living in our Province?

My thanks to those of you who forwarded your annual reports, your comments/suggestions have been included in my annual report to national and noted for the provincial council.  Keep up the good work!  Thank you for your prayers and support during my recent bereavement and please accept my apologies for the lateness of this communiqué.

We are halfway through Lent, may it continue to be a time of prayer and devotion as we journey through the Stations of the Cross with Jesus and may Easter be a time of hope and joy.

Submitted by: Sheila Quinn

Greetings,

Now that we are all in full swing of League meetings and activities has your arch/diocese fall meeting been held? If so and you distributed your communique at the meeting or prior to, please forward me a copy for my files, it is important that we communicate with each other. Thanks to one diocesan chair who has already shared with me. Sometimes we gain ideas from other so have you considered sharing your communiques with your counterparts in the other dioceses that make up our BC and Yukon province?

In relation to Resolution 2007.03 – Hospice Palliative Care: An Integral Component of the Canadian Health Care System -

The Hon. Sharon Carstairs in her address to the senators said “ Saturday Oct 10th is World Hospice Palliative Care Day, a day to hear the voices of people around the world who are living with life-limited illnesses- voices often silent because their entire focus is on remaining alive” and in her closing statement said “let us listen to the voices of young and old around the world as they demand their fundamental human rights to live well until the end with quality hospice palliative care”. Take time to read all of her meaningful speech found under debates Oct 8th on the government web site.

Encourage members to support this resolution by following the listed action plans posted on the national web site www.cwl.ca under resolutions.  Although the date has passed make a notation on your 2010 calendar. » Read the rest of this entry »

Submitted by: Sheila Quinn

Greetings on this beautiful sunny fall day.

Welcome to Legislation chairpersons –Lola, Kamloops,  Roxanne, Vancouver, Betty , Prince George who are joining second term chairpersons, Kathy, Victoria, and Beth, Nelson.   I look  forward to working with everyone and especially receiving your communiques

Most of you will know by now the exciting news that the three resolutions approved at the national convention in St. John’s Newfoundland are all ‘home grown’.  Two come under the legislation heading – 2009.02 Protection and Support Services for Foreign Victims of Human Trafficking and 2009.03 Hate Messages.

2009.01 Exit Strategies for Prostituted Persons is under Christian Family Life standing committee.   They can all be found together with the suggested action plan posted on the national web site www.cwl.ca

Now that schools are back we are reminded of another resolutions addressed to our province which was approved at the provincial convention in Prince George -  Regulating the Use of Personal Electronic Devices on School Premises. Check it out on the BC & Yukon Provincial web site www.cwl.bc.ca and plan to follow the given action plan.

Our provincial resolution Banning the Use of Cell Phones While Driving was one of the resolutions presented and discussed with the British Columbia Government when the League delegation met with them earlier in the year.   In the recent throne speech we were informed that the government plans to introduce legislation banning cell phones while driving.

This ban is already in force in at least three other provinces.   Meantime keep watching for this to come into effect and when it does become law consider writing a letter congratulating the government for taking this step. » Read the rest of this entry »

Submitted by: Sandra Stajduhar

Meeting With Government: March 25, 2009

Four members of the BC & Yukon Provincial Council of The Catholic Women’s League of Canada met with Liberal and New Democratic party MLA’s to present and discuss CWL resolutions. The delegation consisted of Marianna Caldwell, president, Nancy Simms, president-elect, Sheila Quinn, Legislation chairperson, and myself, Sandra Stajduhar, Resolutions chairperson. A report has been sent to and printed in some newspapers – this report has more detail.

Information on the CWL and the resolutions was prepared and given to the MLA’s beforehand, and while the information and the oral presentation were the same in both cases, the two meetings varied. MLA Randy Hawes, Government Whip, introduced us and chaired the meeting with the Liberal caucus. There were about sixteen members present, with others joining us as other meetings concluded – followed by a photo shoot. The meeting with the NDP was an informal table discussion with three MLA’s – Claire Trevena (North Island) critic for women‘s issues, Leonard Krog (Nanaimo) critic for the Attorney General, and Harry Bains (Surrey-Newton), Olympics critic. In both cases, our presentation was received with interest, and questions, comments and suggestions were offered in return. We attended the afternoon question period in the legislature and were introduced and thanked by both parties.

The information package prepared for the MLA’s included all 2008 resolutions as well as two past resolutions still of interest. Briefs, bibliographies and action plans were included. In the oral presentation, specific items of concern, particularly in B.C., were highlighted as we asked for ongoing support in resolving issues. » Read the rest of this entry »

Submitted by: Sheila Quinn

It has been said you have to know the product then market it so how can we ‘know’ legislation? The 4H principle suggests, “learn to do by doing” so here are the ‘doings’ of the legislation standing committee.

L – lobby and continue to lobby all levels of government, federal, provincial, municipal

E – encourage members to write personal letters to the level of government the resolution was directed to using the personal letter writing guide. The power of writing allows us to exercise our rights as Canadians

G – governments, federal, provincial and municipal need to hear our concerns, together we can influence politicians

I – issues of social justice and those against our Christian values need to be addressed to the government and the media, speak up, take a stand.

S – support our resolutions otherwise they are not worth the paper they are written on and most important pray

L – learn to navigate and monitor all government web-sites in order to keep updated on legislation

A – act on resolutions by following the suggested action plan, work with the resolutions and relevant committee chairs.

T – talk up legislation at council meetings, talk to your local representative, add your name on his/her mailing list

I – Inform members of bills coming up for debate before the house. Info can be gleaned from CCCB,COLF, Catholic Civil Rights web sites, also newspapers and magazines.

O –obtain a list of Cabinet Ministers, MLAs, city councilors and municipal representatives.

N – now that leads me to the questions? » Read the rest of this entry »

Meeting with BC Government

TRAFFICKING OF HUMANS
Sandra Stajduhar

Trafficking of humans is the focus of resolutions 2004.05 End Trafficking of Children (http://www.cwl.ca/resolutions/2004/04-05.htm) and 2008.01 Preventing Human Trafficking at 2010 Olympics (http://www.cwl.ca/resolutions/2008/2008-01.html). We are asking for a concentrated effort from all members to follow the action plans and also to pray daily for guidance as we work against the horrible crime of trafficking.

A delegation from the BC & Yukon Provincial executive met with Liberal and NDP MLA’s on March 25, 2009. A complete report of that meeting will be available after the provincial convention, but for your information and assistance in working on resolution 2008.01 we are providing in full the presentation made on human trafficking by president-elect Nancy Simms.

Nancy’s report:
“I would like to bring to your attention resolution, 08.01 Preventing Human Trafficking at 2010 Olympics. Three years ago we were here and I addressed the Catholic Women’s League resolution 04.05 End Trafficking of Children. I spoke about the increasing problem of human trafficking not only in Canada, but globally. Statistics now indicate that between 700,000 to 4 million people are trafficked yearly. I do believe that within these past three years our society has come to a greater understanding of the reality of human trafficking and we in the Catholic Women’s League know and appreciate the steps the government of British Columbia has made to reduce and prevent trafficking through the opening of The Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons.

Canada signed and in May 2002 ratified the United Nations trafficking protocol, in which trafficking in persons is defined as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.” (end quote)

The purposes of trafficking include: prostitution, entertainment industry, sweatshops, organ transplants, domestic slavery and begging for others.

Because Canada is preparing to host the 2010 Olympics in British Columbia, the global problem of human trafficking, especially at international sporting events, has been brought to the forefront. » Read the rest of this entry »

Submitted by: Sheila Quinn

Greetings,
I am reminded of the lines  “the March wind doth blow and we shall have snow” as I look out my window at a snowy, windy March day! First of  all thank you to all six dioceses for sending in their annual reports on time.

In a recent communique from Judy Lewis, national legislation chairperson she advises the following:

Bill C-268 An act to amend the Criminal Code (minimum sentence for offences involving trafficking persons under the age of eighteen years. The status of  bills can be followed at www.parl.gc/ca.LEGISINFO then clicking on Projected Order of Business for listing of bills being brought forward before the House each day.

An act to Amend the Criminal Code (right to die with dignity). A private members’ bill to legalize assisted suicide will be introduced by MP Francine Lalonde who gave notice of this on February 11th .   Official introduction of Bills only require two days notice.  Monitoring of the introduction of this bill also the above bill is important so please inform members urging them to contact their MP’s immediately by phone, e-mail, a visit, or writing stating their concerns in contradiction of our faith beliefs.
» Read the rest of this entry »

Submitted by: Sheila Quinn

Greetings and blessings to all as we begin a New Year.

 As you know the First Session of the 40th Parliament was prorogued on December 4th by the Governor General and the throne speech, scheduled to be read on January 26th will open the 2nd session of Parliament.   Please note that our BC Provincial government will resume on February 26th.  To all Legislation chairpersons that means our sabbatical is over and it is time for us to get busy, keep updated by following Hansard and carefully watch for old Bills being presented under new numbers.

The following immediate release from ministry of Attorney General, dated 7th January regarding a special prosecution into allegations of criminal misconduct in Bountiful states “Today the RCMP arrested two Bountiful residents, James Oler and Winston Blackmore, on charges of polygamy pursuant to the Criminal Code.   The arrests are the culmination of an intensive, seven-month charge assessment review by special prosecutor Terrence Robertson into allegations that these individuals breached section 293 of the Criminal Code by entering conjugal relationship with more than one individual at a time”. » Read the rest of this entry »