It is Ash Wednesday today and the beginning of Lent.  May this holy season  bring us closer to God and give us  a greater awareness of our duties to God and  neighbour.  Help us to be aware of those who are suffering materially, physically and spiritually throughout the world.  May we be in solidarity with them with our Lenten sacrifices.

I am pleased to report that I have received two annual reports to date and look forward to receiving the other four by the deadline February 15.  Please email your reports asap.

Would the Diocesan Chairpersons please note that I send a copy of my communiqués to the National Chairperson so she knows what I am doing.  Despite my pleas, I have not received copies of diocesan chairperson’s reports to their parish councils; this is with the exception of Vancouver and Prince George.  I have no clue of what the other Dioceses are doing. It is simply a matter of clicking  an email button and I would have it. I hate to keep harping on this but it is important.  Share with other Diocesan chairpersons too.

Dr. Rayleen De Luca, National Community Life Chairperson sent Communique #07 a few days ago.  Rayleen is speaking about events from 2007, nevertheless she has some interesting statements. I am not taking any liberties by putting her remarks into my own words.  Regarding Poverty, there appears to be momentum building for a Canadian poverty reduction strategy. KAIROS has reported that progress has been made across Canada on poverty issues. For example, Newfoundland and Labrador renewed its poverty reduction strategy, Ontario ad Nova Scotia are developing strategies and there are indications of strategies being developed in Manitoba ad Prince Edward Island.

KAIROS stated that Canadian churches are doing their part.  The Canadian Council of Churches  relased a newletter, visit www.ccc-cce.ca/english/home/nov26_2007.htm to read a copy of the letter sent to Prime Minister Harper.

Over 75,000 Canadians rallied against poverty at over 500 events on October 17, 2007, the United Nations International day for the Eradication of Poverty.

Campaign 2000′s new 2007 Report Card on Child and family Poverty  can be accessed at www.ccb.ca. After reaching this page, scan the listings on the right hand side and click on National report Card Nov 2007.  I had the whole address typed in here but it wouldn’t open so this was the easiest way.  Very interesting articles here.

She (Dr. De Luca) thanks everyone for their wonderful letters advising of the children that parish council are sponsoring/adopting.  The League is really making a difference for many children, remember, councils can fight child poverty – one child at a time.

During meetings with the federal government, the League delegation made up of National President Lorette Noble, National Chairperson of Resolutions, Betty Anne Brown and Dr. Rayleen De Luca, National Chairperson of Community Life emphasized the critical importance of a national strategy for poverty reduction.  Members writing letters to their MPs would undoubtedly help.

Government funding for Police Records Check

Betty Anne Brown reported that the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Rob Nicholson welcomed League concerns about police records checks. It seems that police records checks are currently considered a municipal and provincial matter but the delegation addressed its importance in today’s society and asked him to consider a future budgetary allocation.

From Pain to Hope

The CCCB has published a document of Orientations to assist catholic dioceses in Canada in updating diocesan protocols for the prevention of sexual abuse.  More info is available at www.cccb.ca/site/content/view/2555/1214/lang.eng/

Sub Committee Reports from Mary Ryan

(a) The United Nations has proclaimed 2008 as International Year of the Planet Earth to have decision makers and politicians focus on the need to use scientific knowledge related to our planet to promote sustainable development. They have also proclaimed 2008 as International Year of sanitation.   This was a Millenium goal to have basic sanitation by 2015.  In addition 2008 has been proclaimed as International Year of the potato focusing the world’s attention on the importance of the potato in providing food, security and alleviating poverty.

(b) The Afghanistan Reference Group (ARG) is a network of NGO’s including the CCODP. It has made three submissions to the Independent Panel on Canada’s future role  in Afghanistan.  The ARG is calling on the federal government to change its top priorities in Afghanistan to peace building and sustainable development and is urging Canada to separate military operations from the importance of humanitarian and development efforts.

(c)  This year is the 60^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Dignity and Justice for all of us was the theme for UN Human rights Day 2007.  The Council of Canadians and other groups worldwide are campaigning to ensure that water is enshrined as a human right.

(d)  Begun 10 years ago, the Global March Against child labour is a movement to mobilize worldwide efforts to protect and promote rights of all children.  Another website to visit:  www.globalmarch.org  Happy reading everyone.

On a happy note, I am pleased to report that Beverley Reid of Coming Home Films is back in Africa and they are very busy with the Ugandan Library Project.  Work is coming along and the major work has been completed.    Thank you everyone who supported this project.  They had money left over so were able to add some windows and a heavy door.

I did not attend the winter meeting at Rosemary Heights Jan 25-27 but I did provide a report to the meeting.  E. Audet mentioned a  $15 donation to Plan Canada to pay for a birth registration in Sudan. Apparently this would help in the problem of trafficking. While a worthwhile project, we are advised to support our Catholic organizations.

A member from Castlegar BC has put on the trafficking of women and children program with material from my files.  It is good to see grassroots members getting enthused.

The postcard campaign to  let your Member of Parliament  know where you stand on the issue of decriminalizing brothels is still ongoing.  Click on the following website and follow the directions.  www.CanadaCan.blogspot.com

There is a wealth of information on this page.  Please read the 10 reasons for not legalizing prostitution.   Susan Schembri, Vancouver Community Life Chair has been working overtime on the Trafficking issue and 2010 Olympics. I don’t believe she shared her report with other Diocesan Chairpersons and her first communiqué September 22 had information that would be helpful to others.  To quote Susan:

“Dignity and Rights of Persons:   “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10)

This is the topic I will be focusing on during my term among other topics. With the hosting of 2010 Olympics come many issues and concerns about Human Trafficking.

Getting educated about this topic should be our main objective. The federal government is taking a serious look at trafficking and introducing new measures. These new measures are meant to help assist victims of human trafficking brought into Canada from abroad. The new measures extend the length of the temporary resident permit (TRP) for victims of human trafficking to 180 days up from 120. This extension allows victims to apply for a work permit – an option not previously available. Other measures involve assistance with health care benefits including medical treatment and counselling services under the Interim Federal Health Programme. The fees for these initial resident and work permits, which normally cost $200 and $150 each, will be waived. In addition to these measures, and depending on their particular circumstances, a number of other avenues may also be pursued by possible victims of trafficking.”

A reminder to protect yourself from Identity theft, be careful and shred papers with your personal information on it.  I have to find out how to get information about me removed from google. My daughter in Sicamous told me about googling yourself.  I was shocked to see the BC CWL website pop up when I clicked on an item about the CWL under my name and even  my Arizona mailing address was listed.   Google states that a “spider” robot crawls the web searching for links. I sent an email requesting removal but haven’t had an answer back.   I believe this is something to be greatly concerned about especially when we write about sensitive issues common to our faith and morals. Of course I have used google to get information myself but that was typing in important peoples names, who would think that ordinary people would get featured.

In my report to the Winter Meeting I mentioned :  “An item of current interest is the issue of Nursing Homes and making them safer.  This could be a potential resolution for an enthusiastic parish.  Society is getting greyer and greyer as the pre baby boomers are now over 65 and the next onslaught of the real baby boomers are only a few years behind.” Will there be sufficient facilities for care?” A news article I read on poverty stated that the flood of immigrants is causing  a strain on Canada’s largest cities, namely, Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.  These immigrants are coming from China, India, Philippines and Pakistan.  It sees the immigrants prefer to live in cities where there are great services, language training, social housing, libraries, community recreation, public health and schools.  The rural communities have room to take immigrants but lack facilities to help care for them.  How can immigrants be encouraged to take up residence in rural communities? In closing I ask God to bless your work to help those needing it most in our communities. May Our Lady of Good Counsel smile upon you.