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

Please see this entry at our National site regarding a recent letter sent to Prime Minister Harper on Bill C-22, the Age of Protection.

The B.C./Yukon provincial council writes a Letter to the Canadian Medical Association Journal about CMA’s abortion referral policy and physicians’ right to freedom of conscience.

LINK: Letter to CMA (PDF)

Submitted by: Marilyn Van Dongen

There is no shortage of resources for the issues dealt with in this standing committee. I always carry reading material with me in case I am stuck waiting somewhere. Conferences are fun to attend and are a wealth of information. Right now Edmonton is the place to be. A conference on euthanasia and end-of-life issues was held in May 25 in Edmonton.The newly formed Diocesan Vocation Directors of Canada are holding a conference in Edmonton June 11 – 15. Novalis has published an excellent resource aimed at teens 12 – 17 years old titled “It’s Your Call”. It reminds young people who feel lost and aimless that God has a call for each one of them. Also in Edmonton June 15 & 16 is a conference on Towards a New Sexual Revolution, National Symposium on the Theology of the Body. Margaret Beardon, as national sub-committee chairperson, will be representing our league. Watch out for conferences you are able to attend. It will be well worth your time and money. What you do with your time and money shows what is important to you. » Read the rest of this entry »

Submitted by: Sandra Stajduhar

Dear League Sisters and Father Terry,

Years ago, my mother and her League sisters approached local merchants with concerns about magazines with questionable content being a) offered for sale and b) displayed where children/teens could see them. We’ve continued to protest as pornography and violence seem to dominate our world – in books, on television, on the internet, and now delivered right to our cell phones!

I’ve [linked] an article from Focus on the Family that sums up this latest concern. And, while we can protest to Telus, and we should protest, we must also be aware that other service providers do, or probably will, offer this ‘service’; some have new positions created for directors of adult content. Become informed, share the news, and make the powers that be aware of our concerns – and I think we had better pray even harder! [editor's note: Congratulations, B.C. members! Your action and prayers succeeded in removing this "service" from Telus cell phones!] » Read the rest of this entry »

November 15, 2006

The Hon. Shirley Bond
Minister of Education
Parliament Buildings
Victoria, BC V8V 1X4

Dear Minister Bond,

The Catholic Women’s League of Canada is a national organization rooted in gospel values. One of the eight objects of our League is “to contribute to the understanding and growth of religious freedom, social justice, peace, and harmony.”

The settlement agreement between the BC Ministry of Education and two private citizens (Murray Corren and Peter Corren) has given them an unprecedented role in influencing provincial curriculum development in all subjects from Kindergarten to Grade 12. This settlement agreement has the potential to denigrate the legally protected moral and religious beliefs of parents and children.

Therefore the BC & Yukon Provincial Council of the Catholic Women’s League of Canada, representing nearly 9,000 members and their families, urges the BC Ministry of Education to continue in its history of acknowledging religious freedom, social justice, peace, and harmony by allowing parents of children in the public school system the right to educate children in conformity with their moral and religious convictions. This right can be affirmed by allowing parents to use the alternate delivery option in areas of the curriculum that conflict with their moral and religious convictions.

I will be in Victoria for meetings with the Provincial Government on March 28 and I am very much looking forward to that. It would be a good opportunity to meet with you as well should your schedule permit.

Sincerely,

Barbara Dowding
CWL BC/YK Provincial President

Submitted by: Sheila Quinn

Greetings,

What beautiful fall and Thanksgiving weather we have had. Today is a typical November, drab, dull and wet day, time for reading and perhaps consider researching an issue of concern that could be presented as a resolution.

Welcome to Margaret B., Life member and former Provincial President who has agreed to be my sub-convener.

Action on resolutions is necessary otherwise it just becomes words on paper!

Bishop Smith stressed the importance of resolutions going back down the ladder to the grass roots level of our organization to follow through with the suggested action plans, please encourage parish councils and members to do so.

The power of writing letters and making phone calls, even if it only relates to one resolution is important, together we can make our voices heard. » Read the rest of this entry »

Submitted by: Sheila Quinn

Greetings to my Resolutions companions -

Whitehorse members, Lucille W. (Kamloops), Elaine R. (Vancouver), Lorraine T. (Prince George), who are serving their second year; also, Ann M. (Nelson), like myself, starting her first year and hopefully a new chairperson from my home diocese of Victoria.

Congratulations and welcome to National Resolutions chairperson, Betty Anne Brown, a widow, who, when she is not tending grapes in her vineyard in Prince Edward County, Ontario, is busy raising her eldest grandchild and enjoying her ever increasing brood of grandchildren.

Betty Anne and I served on the Toronto Archdiocesan level together many years ago and I look forward to journeying with her again and hope that we will accept her invitation to pray, co-operate, make good things happen “For God and Canada”. » Read the rest of this entry »

Submitted by: Sandra Stajduhar

Dear League Sisters and Father Terry,

I’m excited (and yes, nervous too) to be part of the Provincial team, and I look forward to working with everyone. I’m sorry that I could not attend the convention in Whitehorse, to put faces with the names of those I haven’t met, and re-connect with those “companions” that I met during my terms as Diocesan President-elect, President, and Past President (Diocese of Nelson – term completed 2006). I hope to get to know all the Diocesan Chairpersons through our shared communiques, and perhaps at future conventions. » Read the rest of this entry »