Dear Sisters and Father Terry,

Diocesan Legislation chairpersons Kamloops – Lucille W……., Nelson – Pollyana K….., Prince George – Lorraine T……., Vancouver – Suzanne E.., Victoria – Blanca S…., White Horse – vacant

Welcome back to another CWL year as we continue to work at loving one another and walking humbly with our God. For the new chairperson there is a lot to learn and one of the best way is to use the internet as I did to acquire this information last Tuesday that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has decided to reconvene Parliament on October 16th, when he presents a new Speech from the Throne. This will delay the opening of Parliament and allows the opposition parties to vote on the government agenda. There is a possibility the government could be defeated resulting in Bill C-22 dying on the order paper. To express concern about this potential event, members are urged to contact the senators immediately at LEG-JUR@sen.parl.gc.ca and express their concern about the potential death of this bill.

Bill C-22 An Act to amend the Criminal Code (age of protection) and to make consequential amendments to the Criminal Records Act had first reading in the House of Commons on June 22, 2006. This bill would rise the age from 14 to 16 years at which a person can consent to non-exploitative sexual activity. (The government uses the term “age of protection” rather than “age of consent.”) This bill had second reading in the House of Commons on October 30, 2006, and was referred to the justice and human rights committee.”

October 16th, is when Prime Minister Stephen Harper will open a new session of Parliament with a throne speech – followed by a House of Commons vote of confidence on the speech in which the Conservative minority could be defeated, prompting a federal election. If an election comes it will be interesting to monitor the amount of money each political party will spend, the promises made and the issues each will bring forward assuring the voters that they will be the best party to lead the Parliament of Canada.

Our job is to monitor and study current and proposed government legislation at all levels of government this can be pursued by reading Hansard, government publications, newspapers and other media.

To access the Parliament of Canada on the internet type the Parliament of Canada for information regarding the provincial government type Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Names and addresses for MP’s and MLA’s are available from these sites.

The Definition of Hansard for your information is the unofficial name of the “Official Report of Debates” in the federal Parliament of Canada. Hansard is also used to describe the official record of debates in the provincial and territory legislative assemblies. The name Hansard comes from the family originally responsible for reporting debates in the British House of Commons. In the federal House of Commons and Senate, Hansard is published in both official languages, English and French, after each sitting. The debates are translated and transcribed as they occur, then edited and corrected before being published, usually the next day.

The CWL National website has detailed action plans for resolutions 2007.01, 2007.02 and 2007.03 adopted at the 87th annual national convention. The action plan for resolution 2007.03 ask that we promote the on going palliative care issues. I believe that talking with our family doctor about the palliative care available in our communities would be a starting place.

Provincial Education & Health Chairperson Nancy Simms has asked that members send their feed back regarding The Social Justice 12 Response Draft and accompanying Response Form that are now available on the Web and downloadable via http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/drafts/ to her. This is in regards to the agreement with the BC Ministry of Education and the Correns.

Please contact me if you require help, have questions or information to pass on.

God Bless,
Your Sister in the League,

Gloria G……..

Dear League Sisters and Father Terry,

As Fall approaches, I hope that you all found your own “quiet place” during the summer – to rest and refresh – and are now ready to work for God and Canada. Welcome to the newly elected chairpersons and hello again to those in their second year – remember to share your communiques with each other and with me.

Arch/Diocese Communications Chairpersons
Kamloops (2007-2009) Marguerite L…..
Nelson (2006-2008) Betty H…..
Prince George (2007-2009) Therese S…..
Vancouver (2007-2009) Sandra B…..
Victoria Daisy M…
Whitehorse – send to Sacred Heart CWL Pres, send to Our Lady of Sorrows Pres.

CALL TO URGENT ACTION
As you are aware, after passing Third Reading in the House of Commons on May 4th, Bill C-22, The Age of Protection legislation was sent to the Senate. As of June 21st it was with the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, having passed Second Reading in the Senate June 20th. The Senate’s last Day to sit was June 29th, and there was no action on the bill until September after that. NOW THERE IS THE CHANCE THAT THIS BILL MAY DIE. PLEASE READ THE INFORMATION BELOW (from our National website) and ACT!

“Pending legislation to be aware of:

ALERT TO ALL MEMBERS
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has decided to reconvene Parliament on October 16th, when he presents a new Speech from the Throne. This will delay the opening of Parliament and allows the opposition parties to vote on the government agenda. There is a possibility the government could be defeated resulting in Bill C-22 dying on the order paper. To express concern about this potential event, members are urged to contact the senators immediately at LEG-JUR@sen.parl.gc.ca and express their concern about the potential death of this bill.

Bill C-22 An Act to amend the Criminal Code (age of protection) and to make consequential amendments to the Criminal Records Act had first reading in the House of Commons on June 22, 2006. This bill would raise the age from 14 to 16 years at which a person can consent to non-exploitative sexual activity. (The government uses the term “age of protection” rather than “age of consent.”) This bill had second reading in the House of Commons on October 30, 2006, and was referred to the justice and human rights committee. “

Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs
Senate of Canada
Ottawa , ON K1A 0A4
Clerk: Shaila Anwar Phone: 613-993-4874
Administrative Assistant: Natalie Lemay-Paquette Phone: 613-943-7865
Email: LEG-JUR@sen.parl.gc.ca

You can track the progress of the bill if you go to www.parl.gc.ca/legisinfo
Let’s not lose all the hard work so many have put into this cause.

RIBBON OF SIGNATURES ANNUAL CAMPAIGN
Sunday, October 21 to Sunday, October 28, 2007
From www.c-a-s-e.net

“We continue to observe the proliferation of pornography and specifically its very alarming growth on the internet. We therefore plan to focus our ribbon campaign on Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The Ribbon kit is available and includes a DVD that I am sure you will find useful in making presentations to community groups. It was created by Melanie and Todd Toews, of Dauphin, Manitoba . They are committed to the protection of our children and the DVD titled “The Children Need Someone Like You” contains the title song “Someone like You”. I have no doubt it will give you pause for thought and incentive to continue the battle against this insidious plague that endangers so many innocent and vulnerable children around the world. The DVD alone can be purchased for $10 from C.A.SE. The kit including written materials, the white ribbon and the DVD will be $25. Donations are always appreciated as they are our only means of keeping C.A.S.E. vibrant and involved in this struggle to keep our children safe. Donations can be sent to C.A.S.E. at P.O. Box 62569 , Toronto , ON M1R 5G8 .”

BCYK CWL Website
Please check out our provincial website – www.cwl.bc.ca

I have assumed the duty of webmaster, and my goal is to keep it up to date. We will be getting some help to give it a more professional look, and welcome feedback.

Future plans include setting up separate pages for each diocese – are you interested? Would this be of value to you?

What else would you like to see on the website?

BCYK Newsletter
The Fall 2007 issue will be out shortly. News from each diocese and parish is welcome – share your stories with your sisters in the League throughout the province and Yukon. The newsletter is not intended to replace communiques – but to help us get to know each other, share information that is not time sensitive, and to learn from each other’s stories.

Each parish council is given one newsletter to share – a copy can be e-mailed to you upon request. An edited version is also available on the website after printed copies are distributed.

From “A Quiet Place”  by Mary Elizabeth Matthews

I need a place to sit and think,
I’ve rushed around all day;
I need a place where I can rest,
And talk to God, and pray.

May we all find a place where we can talk to God ~ to ‘communicate’ our cares and concerns. Please add to your prayers Bill C-22, and all of our young people who need this protection.

Love and prayers to all.

God bless,
Sandra

Madame President, Reverend Fathers and League members

Communication – what is it? Cave paintings, smoke signals, carrier pigeons; telegraph, telephone, television; e-mail, text message, chat room, blog. Communication has changed and grown, but still remains the exchange of thoughts, ideas, information and feelings by a system of signs, sounds or behaviour. It is used in order to accomplish tasks and achieve goals, in our personal and business lives.

In the past year, we have two major examples of communication being used to create change in our country.

Telus: we heard or read that Telus was offering a new service to its mobility customers. They were able to download pornography to their cell phones, and take it with them wherever they went. So we phoned and we wrote and we prayed. And Telus listened, and withdrew the service, and I hope that we all acknowledged and thanked them for this. We must continue to monitor Telus and other service providers.

Bill C-22: to raise the age of protection to 16. This bill passed third reading in the House of Commons on May 4th, and will now go before the Senate for final consideration and hopefully passage before summer. This is a rewarding conclusion to many years of hard work by child protection groups, police officers, politicians and concerned citizens.

To jump start my mind in preparing this report, I typed “communications” in my search engine and received 297 million results in .17 seconds. This is just one example of the power of the internet. We can access sites around the world and we can communicate with each other in seconds. This amazing information highway also brings us the responsibility to use it wisely, and to me this is a three fold responsibility:We must monitor its content and its use, especially by children – there are means in place and it is up to us to educate ourselves and our children on the safety and good content issues;

We must not let it replace actual contact with “real” people;

And, we must USE it. The information is there – sites from our Bishops, from Rome, from WUCWO, C.A.S.E., and from our own National CWL. We can learn so much and be called to action in so many ways. Although some members would have to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to a computer, each council should have at least one person who is willing and able to be the internet/e-mail contact, and this person needs to communicate with her council members.

The internet is not the only media for communications, and our mandate to evaluate and promote good content could also include “provide good content”. In the BC Catholic, May 14th, veteran CBC television journalist Brian Stewart is quoted: “The success of churches and faith-based organizations in providing disaster relief and fighting world poverty is one of “the greatest overlooked stories of our time”. Why is this story overlooked?

In September 2006, Archbishop John Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, addressed new bishops in Media: Well Worth the Church’s Effort. Although he was addressing bishops, his comments also apply to our CWL councils.

Quote: “Basically, the attitude in public relations on the diocesan or even the parish level should be: Never overlook an opportunity to proclaim Christ’s message through activities in which the general public may be interested.”

There are many “good news” stories waiting to be told – and when the five “w’s” – (the who, what, when, where and why) – are covered, an explanation can be added, providing evangelization, education or promotion of the League. Did you have a fundraiser for Matercare? Did you have a speaker on autism? Did you celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Good Counsel or sponsor a day of reflection? Tell your community. Even if all of a submitted article, or any of it, is not printed – someone read it. When you are aware of good, informative articles, comment on them and share them.

World Communications Day was celebrated this year on May 20th. The theme was “Children and the Media: a Challenge for Education.” Parents, teachers, and the ecclesiastic community are called to work together to educate children and young people to be selective and to develop a critical attitude. The media too must make its contribution to this educational task, promoting the dignity of the human person, marriage and the family, and the accomplishments and aims of civilization. May we all be guided to use the media wisely to communicate God’s great love to the world.

Respectfully submitted,

Sandra S……..

Greetings and Happy Valentine’s Day,

As we “Walk Humbly With our God” let us “Love One Another” by continuing to take action on resolutions such as those related to on-going major concerns such as trafficking of women and children, poverty, homelessness to name a few. Many other important issues are stated in previous resolutions and can be found on the League website – click on resolutions and follow the suggested action plan. Encourage parish councils to study one resolution at each meeting, then write letters or arrange another day for coffee and letter writing. What makes a resolution worthwhile? The action – one phone call, one letter!!!

In a recent communique from Betty Anne B. she mentions that the new Criteria for Acceptance of Resolutions will be distributed to parish councils in the spring of 2007 as part of the National Manual Policy & Procedure update. Another suggestion to follow as you work on resolutions is – be focussed, use simple language, define the key message and communicate in a clear, concise and compelling manner.

The current issue of The Canadian League magazine has a report on the meeting with the federal government officials and I am sure you will agree our voices are being heard! Education/action on Sleep Apnea is also featured, Banning the use of Styrofoam was in a previous issue, both were submitted from our Province. This is a great way of reaching all League members inviting them to take action.

The environment issue dominates Parliament these days and continues to be a major concern to all Canadians. The recent announcement of $1.5 million being designated for renewable energy is one step forward, this is an opportunity for League members to commend the federal government either by e-mail or snail mail.

In yesterdays throne speech the primary topic was climate change and, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, while health care issues took a back seat. Prime Minister Campbell said that they, the government, are depending on citizens to reach their goal – the green plan. Together let us make a huge effort towards making this plan a reality and to diligently follow the progress made by the government. He also mentioned that homelessness and poverty are unacceptable to the government and according to several previous resolutions presented by the League we affirm these priorities and hopefully we will see positive action soon, not just talk!

“An Inconvenient Truth” documentary by Al Gore on global warning originally aired in May 2006 is well worth watching. It is available on DVD and one church in my area is having a showing and a guest speaker who will address any questions.

Bill C-22 Sexual Consent recently received a second reading and has been referred to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. Should an election be called this bill will not proceed any further.

It is important that you share your communiques with me to keep me “in the loop”, thank you to the chairpersons who have already shared.

As our delegation prepares to meet with the government on Wednesday, 28th March please pray for us and the success of our meeting.

Lent – more fervent in prayer, more generous in works of charity, more eager in celebrating the mysteries by which we are reborn. A powerful message taken from the cover of a retreat book.

Your Sister in the League,
Sheila

Dear League Sisters and Father Terry,

In my first communique, I stated that my goal was to encourage communication between all chairpersons in order to help each other.

I would like to add that our goal as communications chairpersons could be to equip our members with the tools to communicate effectively. There is a Personal Letter Writing Guide on the National website – free to download. There are also some excellent letters written by our national president, Lorette Noble, on our behalf on a number of concerns. Encourage our parish councils to check them out, and be inspired to write their own letters. Offer to get paper copies for them if they have no one in their council to do so.

C.A.S.E. – from an e-mail from Velma Harasen with quote from C.A.S.E.

“In June 2006 Justice Minister Vic Toews introduced Bill C-22 to raise the age of consent to protect teenagers from adult sexual predators. This bill passed first reading and has been well received by the majority of Canadian citizens, politicians and the media. With this positive response we expect the bill to pass into law. But at this point in time nothing seems to be happening with this bill. It has not been tabled for second reading. After passing second reading it must be debated in committee and brought back to the House for third and final reading. This is a good bill focusing only on one issue: the raising of the age of consent for sexual activity from 14 years of age to 16 years of age.”

Do not let this wonderful opportunity pass by to encourage your MP to support Bill C-22. We must speak now when the age of consent issue is a focus of the government. When the age of consent is changed, it will send a very clear and powerful message that the Canadian government and the Canadian laws will now protect children from adult sexual predators.

Collect signatures on your white ribbons and send the ribbon to you MP. You might want to write a letter or phone your MP and discuss this issue with her or him. If you have a picture or unique story related to the presentation of the white ribbons to your MP that we might be able to use in our League magazine, please send it along to national office. The deadline for the next magazine is November 30th.

Bill C-22 has reached Second Reading in the House of Commons and Referred to Committee (October 30, 2006). Please write your letters and follow the progress of the bill and your own MP’s position.

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS
Growing up, I always loved reading the Christmas cards and letters that came – many from people that we children didn’t know. The bright cards decorated the house, and helped build the excitement and anticipation. The exchange of cards and letters has dwindled over the years – e-mail is fun, but I think we have lost something. But – whatever way you communicate at Christmas, please make sure that CHRIST is present and prominent. Send cards with a spiritual message and please ask for the Madonna and Child postage stamp.

I extend my wish that you experience a prayerful Advent and receive many blessings as you share Christmas with family and friends.

May we Communicate, Co-operate and grow in Love for One Another in 2007.

Sandra S.