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Ontario Council writes a letter of thanks to the Premier thanking her for her support to the Experimental Lakes project
A letter was sent to the Honourable Minster Charles Sousa, Minister of Finance for the Ontario Budget consultations.
Sheila Lacroix, CFUW Leaside-East York has joined the Ontario Council Board as Chair, Legislation Committee.
At the Standing Committees meeting held in Toronto, the guest speakers were Karlee Anne Sapoznik President and Co-Founder of the Alliance Against Modern Slavery, Aura Burditt Chair of the London Anti-Human Trafficking Committee and Loly Rico, President of Canadian Council of Refugees speaking about Human Trafficking, Control, Exploitation, Profits. More
In the afternoon, at the Legislation Committee the speaker, Indira Naidoo-Harris, Communication Director, Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, spoke on Immigration in Ontario “Building the Brain Trust”; the Education Committee had a presentation on the Mathematics Curriculum K-12 by Mary Jean Gallagher, Student Achievement Officer and Assistant Deputy, Minister of Education for Ontario, and the Status of Women & Human Rights Committee discussed the Building a Future for Women in Trades Conference, as well as having continuing discussions with the morning speakers.
Ontario Council has prepared two Toolkits, and Proposal for a System of Early Learning and Child Care in Ontario
Ontario Council joined with its colleagues to give comments as requested by the International Joint Commission (IJC) concerning the composition of the Water Quality Board that will advise the IJC on the government programs to implement the Great Lakes Water Quality Protocol of 2012.
At the Standing Committees meeting held in Toronto, the panel on Student College /University Math Preparedness consisted of Cheryl Jensen, Vice President Academic, Mohawk College, Laurel Schollen, Director, College Achievement Project, Seneca College, Mike Jancik, Director, Research, Evaluation and Capacity Building Branch, Student Achievement Division, Ontario Ministry of Education (MOE), Nancy Naylor, Assistant Deputy Minister, Postsecondary Education Division, Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities ( MTCU) and Carol Carruthers, Professor, Mathematics/Coordinator, Applied Science and Technology Certificate Program, Seneca College. More
In the afternoon, the Legislation Committee, Janice Napp (CFUW Orillia) presented a workshop, Beginning Conversations on Financial Literacy, derived from UWC-Montreal’s 2009 AGM resolution on Financial Literary, and their book of the same name; the Education Committee continued with two of the morning panelists, Laurel Schollen and Carol Carruthers. and the Status of Women & Human Rights Committee afternoon session began with the film “Standing on Her Shoulders”, which was researched and produced by CFUW Guelph member Margie Taylor for Rural Women Making Change, a community-university research alliance at the University of Guelph.
Ontario announces that it is adopting the Great Lakes Basin-wide water conservation goals and objectives based on the goals of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement.
Ontario Council sends letter of support concerning the Sierra Club's letter also of support to Ms Adrian Coombs, Senior Project Manager, The Regional Municipality of York, Environmental Services for their work concerning the state-of-the-art York Region Sewage Treatment Plant.
As members since 2004 of the Great Lakes Advisory Panel, CFUW Ontario Council has been very concerned with the implementation of our obligations under the Great Lakes Annex Agreement, and this respects both that and the Lake Simcoe Protection Act.
At the Standing Committees meeting held in Toronto, the guest speaker, Irwin Elman, Ontario’s first Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth, talked about his work and giving children a voice. More
In the afternoon, the Legislation Committee continued with a discussion on Youth in Care, the Education Committee had a presentation about child care by Martha Friendly, Childcare Resource and Research Unit at the University of Toronto, and the Status of Women & Human Rights Committee discussed local women’s coalitions with representatives from Kitchener-Waterloo Women’s Groups Network and the Advancement of Women Halton
Comments were sent to the Hon. Laurel Broten, Minister of Education concerning Modernizing Child Care in Ontario: Sharing Conversations, Strengthening
Partnerships
CFUW Ontario Council sent comments to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment concerning the Great Lakes Protection Act, 2012
Ontario Council’s Annual General Meeting was hosted by CFUW Etobicoke. The theme was Green Energy: Is a Future without Fossil Fuels Viable? with the keynote speaker, Peter Love on Understanding Renewable Energy. In the afternoon, the panel discussion was Environmental, Economic and Societal Impacts, moderated by Peter Love, with Jose Etcheverry, Ralph Torrie, and Adarsh Mehta.
A letter was sent to the Hon.Dalton McGuinty, with copies to Dwight Duncan, Andrea Horwath and Michael Prue, with our concerns about the 2012 Budget:
- the lack of funding for child care
- the freeze in social assistance benefits
- the smaller increase to the Ontario Child Benefit
A response has been received from the Minister of Finance, Dwight Duncan.
A letter was sent to the Hon. Dalton McGuinty requesting that Ontario join Quebec in attempting to save the Gun Registry Data
Continuing the work done by the Great Lakes United concerning the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, letters have been sent pushing for this agreement. CFUW Ontario Council is a signator.
Ontario Council sends a letter to Premier McGuinty asking that he pressure the federal government to both maintain the records that have already been collected with the long gun registry, and to denounce the potential changes that have been in place since 1977.
Ontario Council sent a letter to Laurel Broten, Minister of Education on Bill 13, an act to amend the Education Act with respect to bullying and other matters
FLEW UPDATE - During the past few months, the Family Law Education for Women (FLEW) campaign has undergone a period of transition. see more
A letter was sent to the Hon. Jim Bradley, Minister of the Environment, welcoming him on his return to the Ministry of the Environment, and expressing some concerns about the Great Lakes St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement
At the request of CFUW National, the provincial councils, including Ontario Council, have been asked to write to the Premiers about the concerns with the federal Bill C-10, the Omnibus Bill which will be affecting the provinces.
Equal Voice, the organization dedicated to election of women to all levels of government, celebrated the increase in women elected to the Ontario Legislature, 30 female MPPs up from 27, now constituting 28% of the Members.
At the Standing Committees meeting held in Toronto, the guest speakers, Andrea Calver of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care (OCBCC), Nora Loreto, Communications and Government Relations Coordinator, Canadian Federation of Students—Ontario (CFS-O) and Sheela Subramanian, Planning and Policy Analyst, Canadian Mental Health Association Ontario, presented issues of concern for Ontario voters.
More
As part of the Standing Committees meeting, Sheela Subramanian of Canadian Mental Health Association-Ontario presented the Vote4MHA Campaign.
Environmental and citizens’ groups comments and recommendations in response to Canadian & U.S. negotiators final consultation on the renegotiation of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
Ontario Council, along with National CFUW, have sent comments to the governments concerning the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.
Continuing its action on poverty, Ontario Council has endorsed The 25in5’s Call to Action, an open letter to leaders of all Ontario political parties to make the reduction and eradication of poverty a key election issue and to clearly outline their commitments and concrete plans to tackle poverty in our province. This Call to Action will be publicly released in early September.
Ontario Council has endorsed the 2011 Step it Up Campaign. Step it Up! was created after a June 2006 meeting of women activists from across Ontario who are working to end violence against women. The campaign was developed in working groups at the meeting and email discussions after that. Its goal is to encourage women, children and communities across the province to get involved in actions to spread the word about the 10 Steps to end violence against all women. These 10 steps represent areas for concrete actions that our government can take to reduce and ultimately end violence against women. For more information, see www.stepitupontario.ca
As a followup to the Ontario Council AGM 2011 conference, Taking Off the Blinders, CFUW Oakville has created a blog where information can be posted concerning poverty in Ontario and work that CFUW clubs are doing.
All the slides from the conference have been posted.
http://cfuwpovertyinontario.wordpress.com/
The proposed resolution on a Mental Health Strategy for Ontario was passed at the AGM.
Standing Committees meeting held in Toronto. The morning topic was Financial Literacy with the speaker, Greg Pollack of the Task Force on Financial Literacy.
The afternoon speakers were in Education John Campey, Executive Director, Social Planning Toronto speaking about Community schools; in Status of Women, Rhea Pretsell, Chair, Status of Women Committee speaking about the Equal Voice two-day conference on women in politics; and in Legislation, Kim Pate, executive director of the Elizabeth Fry Society, speaking on women in prison
Brief sent to the Ontario Legislature Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs concerning the Pre-Budget consultations
Standing Committees meeting held in Toronto. Morning topic is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.
As resource material for the Standing Committees meeting, CFUW Aurora-Newmarket prepared a package of materials concerning Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.
An Ontario-only resolution concerning a Mental Health Strategy for Ontario was sent to the clubs.
Standing Committees meeting held in Toronto. Topic is Sexual Violence from Horror to Healing
Ontario Council sends comments to the Commission to Promote Sustainable Child Welfare on their report, Towards Sustainable Child Welfare in Ontario.
The Commission was established by the Minister of Children and Youth Services in November 2009 with a three-year mandate to study the sustainability of child welfare in Ontario by developing and implementing solutions. http://www.sustainingchildwelfare.ca
Ontario Council sends comments to the Ontario Women’s Directorate for the public consultation to help develop the first Sexual Violence Action Plan of Ontario. The consultation paper can be found at http://www.citizenship.gov.on.ca/owd/english/women/svap_doc.shtml
CFUW National, with the support of Ontario Council, signs on to comments and statements prepared by Great Lakes United concerning the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.
The new Board for 2010-2012 took office under the guidance of Myra Willis, the continuing President. The new Region - Ontario Huron with Marianne Williams as Regional Director – came into effect. This region includes six clubs that had previously been in Ontario West.
The annual Advocacy Awards were presented to nine clubs and the Toronto Caucus.
Ontario Council’s Annual General Meeting was hosted by CFUW St.Catharines. The theme was ACCESSIBILITY: Creating Inclusive Communities with the keynote speaker, Rabia S. Khedir and her topic was Creating Inclusive Communities: Places Where People Belong.
Letters have been sent concerning the Ontario Budget 2010 to the Hon. Laurel Broten (thanking her for the childcare funding), and both the Hon. Madeleine Meilleur and the Hon. Deb Matthews (concerning the loss of the Special Diet Allowance)
Family Court Process and its need for Reform with activist lawyer, Pamela Cross was the topic of the March Standing Committees meeting held in Toronto. Approximately 80 members from around the province attended.
A letter of welcome, also explaining the Ontario Council position on intra-basin transfers involving the Great Lakes, was sent to the Hon. Linda Jeffrey, Minister of Natural Resources
CFUW Ontario Council signs on to a letter to the Hon. John Gerretsen, Minister of the Environment, about the water source protection process in Ontario, along with 18 other groups concerned about water issues.
A letter was sent to the Premier and the Minister of Children and Youth Services, the Hon. Laurel Broten, concerning the funding of child care services.
Fourteen organizations, including CFUW Ontario Council, endorsed a paper prepared by Luke's Place Support and Resource Centre concerning changes to family court process reform.
Bill 168, Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Act (Violence and Harassment in the Workplace) 2009 passes the Ontario Legislature. CFUW Ontario Council has sent comments previously.
CFUW Hamilton is very concerned about the "clawback" to social assistance allowances that has occurred since July. Maureen Leyland, Norma Ducau and Linda Hall wrote of their concerns. This was published in the Hamilton Spectator.
A letter was sent to Kathleen Wynne, the Minister of Education, concerning the Pascal Report on Early Learning.
Ontario Council sends comments on the Draft Regulation of the Ontario Toxics Reduction Act 2009 EBR #010-7792. Our comments were prepared by Dr. Charlotte Rigby and Olga Lee, our analysts on environmental toxins, and include responses to questions posed to the Stakeholders’ consultation meeting held in Ottawa on October 7.
CFUW Ontario Council has presented its comment to the Ministry of the Environment, Land and Water Policy Branch concerning the Proposal Paper, "Stewardship - Leadership - Accountability: Safeguarding and Sustaining Ontario's Water Resources for Future Generations".
Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) Why were they established? How do community members measure the success of their local LHIN? with Juanita Gledhill, Chair, Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Local Health Integration Network was the topic for the first of this season’s Standing Committees meetings
Due to its potential impact on other areas of the province, CFUW Ontario Council sends comments to the Ontario Growth Secretariat, Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure on the proposal, Simcoe Area: A Strategic Area of Growth (2009)
Comments on: the Simcoe Area: A Strategic Area of Growth (2009)
to the Ontario Growth Secretariat,
Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure
CFUW Ontario Council has been invited to stakeholder meetings involving the Ontario Government’s proposal paper on water conservation.
As well we joined with other organizations to support the document H2Ontario: A Blueprint for a Comprehensive Water Conservation and Efficiency Strategy
The Annual General Meeting of CFUW Ontario Council is hosted by CFUW Belleville.
Earlier letters and briefs can be found under their topic on the Issues Page
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