STANDING COMMITTEES

Education | Legislation | Status of Women & Human Rights

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Ontario Council Standing Committees in Legislation, Education, and Status of Women and Human Rights were developed to keep members aware of current issues in Ontario. The Committees meet three times a year - in September, January, and March in downtown Toronto - for a day with speakers, workshops and discussion. All Club members are invited to attend these meetings.

Please Note: Catering requires pre-registration

March 13, 2010

About the Topic:
In light of the series of recent murders and violent sexual abuses of women in Eastern Ontario, no one needs to be reminded about the issue of violence against women. One of the most common areas for violence against women to occur is in the domestic area. In May 2009, the Report, Transforming our Communities, from the Domestic Violence Advisory Council for the Ontario Minister Responsible for Women’s Issues was released by the Minister. Subsequently, in December 2009, the Ontario Attorney General announced a family court process reform initiative to improve access to justice in the interest of women and children.

Because 79% of the domestic violence homicides occur at the point of actual or pending separation, the legal response recommendations of the Domestic Violence Advisory Council Report asked for the removal of barriers at the “front door services of the family court system”. These barriers are encountered by all, but have particularly severe consequences for abused women.

The December 2009 Ontario Attorney General’s “Four Pillars” of family court process reforms address some of these barriers. CFUW Ontario Council supported a brief to the Ontario Attorney General by the Luke’s Place Support and Resource Centre asking for necessary further improvements to the reforms. Pam Cross who is a legal expert on (domestic) violence against women will explore and explain these issues, and how abused women, and all women for that matter, are treated currently in the family court system.

About the speaker: Pamela Cross:
Pam Cross is a frequent speaker on national radio and television and at provincial and national conferences on the topic of violence against women and the law. She developed the curriculum for Legal Aid Ontario’s provincial domestic violence training initiative for family law lawyers and is part of the teaching team at the National Judicial Institute’s domestic violence education seminar for provincial court judges.

She works as a consultant and trainer with a number of women’s equality-seeking organizations on such topics as legal issues faced by survivors of male violence, sexual assault, record keeping, disclosure, duty to report, confidentiality and custody and access law. Ms. Cross also provides consultation services to a number of organizations with respect to policy development and has developed and delivered strategic planning to several women’s organizations in Ontario.

At present, Ms. Cross is the Legal Director for Luke’s Place Support and Resource Centre Pro Bono Summary Advice Clinic. This unique clinic brings together pro bono lawyers and Legal Support Workers (LSWs) to assist unrepresented abused women through the family court process. She is also the Director of Strategic Planning, National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL)

Pam Cross was a member of the recent Domestic Violence Advisory Council to the Government of Ontario where she was one of 13 experts appointed by Order in Council to provide advice to the Minister Responsible for Women with respect to improving the quality of services for abused women and their children.

In recent years, with her work with equality seeking women’s organizations, Ms. Cross has been a member of the Management Committee of the Family Law Education for Women Project (FLEW), as well as the Director of Advocacy and Public Policy, YWCA Canada.

For many years, Pam Cross was the Legal Director for Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children (METRAC), and the Ontario Women’s Justice Network (OWJN) . She has been a Project Coordinator for the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres, and also Family Law Reform Coordinator for NAWL.

She has helped organizations through structural changes when Transitional Executive Director, NAWL, and Transitional Executive Director, METRAC , Toronto, Ontario,

For some years, Ms. Cross was a sole practitioner in her general law practice in Kingston, that focused on providing legal services to women in or leaving abusive relationships. This was primarily family law but also included criminal and child protection law. Ms. Cross has been a founding member of and is involved in several social justice organizations and campaigns. She has done pro bono legal work for sexual assault crisis centres, and non-profit housing projects in eastern Ontario. Pam has owned a street café, and was food editor at Harrowsmith Magazine, a school trustee, and a NDP candidate in the 1985 Provincial Election.

January 16, 2009

Pascal Report on Early Childhood Learning

The Pascal Report on Early Childhood Learning was addressed by representatives of both the Childcare workers and School teachers, who both lamented Ontario’s position at or near the bottom of OECD countries in the provision of early learning.

Andrea Calver, co-coordinator of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, began by describing her organization’s struggle to obtain funding for childcare and the immense strain on parents to find and afford suitable care. She deplored the fact that there is no coherent system for childcare in Ontario and that it has not been mentioned in either of the last two provincial budgets. Childcare providers accordingly must campaign every year for their funding. A crisis looms for the March 2010 budget, since a one-time federal grant of $256 million received in 2006 is nearly gone, and five million must be granted in this budget to prevent cuts in services.

The Coalition thus supports full implementation of the Pascal report, which would begin by offering full-day kindergarten for four and five-year-olds, and ultimately before- and after-school childcare for all children to age 12. They anticipate that cost savings from having much of the child care segment taken over by the Boards of Education can be used to stabilize the system and raise the wages of Early Childhood Education teachers. This would be a win-win improvement, both in the educational start for children and the quality of life for parents.

Susan Swackhammer, of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, also fully endorsed the recommendations of the Pascal Report. She praised the government for its muilti-million dollar commitment, which she feels will narrow the literacy gap and improve retention rates. She feels that Primary and ECE teachers will bring complementary skills to the classroom, and that any professional differences can and will be worked out. Planning and training sessions for both sets of teachers are anticipated. She looks forward to a return to play-based education for kindergarten (recently jettisoned in schools’ focus on standardized testing) and feels this will integrate with the ECE component. She is optimistic that if fully implemented this program will make schools a more valuable resource and give parents peace of mind, as well as the convenience of not having to shuttle children between school and daycare.

Both speakers stressed that children are not legally required to be in school before age 6, so participation in full-day kindergarten, or even half-day kindergarten, is voluntary.

Answers to questions:

• Two teachers will be in classrooms at all times: the Primary teacher in regular hours, two ECE teachers, one from 7:00 – noon, and one from 1:00-7:00.
• Special Education students will not be involved: the plan will only cover children required to be in school.
• Boards are being “strongly encouraged” to keep the plan operating during PD days and holidays
• It has not yet been decided what union ECE teachers will belong to.
• Municipalities will continue to collect fees for extended program and pay subsidies.

September 26, 2009
Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) Why were they established?How do community members measure the success of their local LHIN?

Speaker: Juanita Gledhill, Chair, Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Local Health Integration Network.

Juanita Gledhill is an award-winning Human Resources professional, with 20 years experience in the field, specializing in organizational development and operational leadership. She is principal in a HR consulting practice.

In 2006 Ontario established 14 Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) across the province to plan, integrate and fund local healthcare. They are run by 9-person-volunteer-boards, whose members serve 2-3 year terms.

The LHINS mandate is to serve the local community, concentrating on Promoting wellness and prevention, Providing quality, accessible health care in the community. Guaranteeing that the system will be there for the long term.

The LHIN does not provide health services, but works closely and continuously with local providers - hospital boards, mental health facilities, CCAC’s, for example, to provide funds for operating expenses based on local requirements. It does not fund capital costs, although it is consulted on them to ensure that local needs are met. Its community focus allows it to respond to differing communities; Juanita’s region, for example contains two large First Nations communities and one Francophone community; others may contain a large proportion of the elderly, all of which may require specialized attention.

Work is being done on new initiatives, both by individual LHINs and the provincial Ministry of Health and Long Term Care:
Aging at Home: a 3-year. $60 million dollar program of the province to fund, through LHINs, programs to allow the elderly to remain in their homes. Clinical Services Plan: continuously works to integrate information received from various sources. Integrated Health and Service Plans: developed by individual LHINs to supply a road map for the community outlining future services

In addition, work is being done on such goals as reducing wait times in Emergency Rooms and wait times for long term care; increasing hours of palliative care; increasing care for patients coming out of hospital, allowing them time at home to make decisions as to their future placement; services for children, especially for mental health; care at the end of life; care for those with disabilities; integrating information among LHINs to avoid duplication.

March 14, 2009
HIV/AIDS Curriculum and the Schools Speaker: Christine Fortin, Founder, Patrick 4 Life

The speaker was Christine Fortin, mother of Patrick Fortin, who died in 2001 at age 23 of AIDS contracted by tainted blood products taken to control his hemophilia. In her son’s memory, Ms. Fortin founded Patrick 4 Life, a charity dedicated to educating youth about how to prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS by “creating awareness through education, leadership, fundraising and partnerships.”

Diagnosed at 7, one of the earliest and youngest HIV patients in Canada, Patrick Fortin in his older years visited high schools in his home town of North Bay to spread awareness of HIV and the message that HIV, while not curable, is preventable. This was the genesis of Patrick 4 Life.

The program began in 2006 with a Run /Walk 4 Patrick Family Fest, a family marathon, and in 2007, ParticiPatrick a 10-week program in schools which involves students in daily physical activity along with age-appropriate HIV/AIDS awareness and self-esteem-building activities, all during school hours. Children spend 20 minutes a day in physical activity that translates to the equivalent of a 40K marathon, followed by a 2.5K marathon with children from other schools. The program started in Grade 4, but has expanded to older grades. All North Bay school boards are supportive and involved, as are principals and teachers, who are provided with teaching materials. A program for high school students, Youth 4 Youth, aims to engage young people in HIV/AIDs awareness with the use of new media, such as podcasting and websites. Youth 4 Youth participants also assist in presenting the program to younger students.

The program has the support of politicians at all levels in the North Bay area, and while the province will not adopt HIV/AIDs awareness into the provincial curriculum, it does support school boards to run the program locally.

Christine Fortin claims that she chooses to relive the nightmare of her son’s illness to demonstrate that something creative can come out of chaos in one’s life. Her activities have catapulted her into several Boards and agencies dealing with HIV/AIDS.

January 24, 2009

Poverty Reduction in Ontario: What is being proposed and What is the Government Doing to Address this Serious Problem?

The morning session addressed poverty reduction in Ontario. Speakers were The Hon. Deb Matthews, Minister of Child and Youth Services and head of the Provincial government’s anti-poverty cabinet committee, and Jacquie Maund, coordinator of Ontario Campaign 2000, a coalition of 120 partners working to end child poverty in Ontario.

Minister Matthews asserts that poverty and poverty reduction are high priorities with the current Liberal government, and that while poverty will not be eliminated, it is being reduced. There is no longer stigma in being poor.  She credits the Women’s Caucus of the Liberal party with bringing women’s issues to the fore since their election in 2003, citing particularly the prevention of Sharia law and their action against poverty.

The poverty-reduction strategies focus on children, with emphasis on the new child benefit, junior kindergarten for four-year-olds, and the 25 in 5 campaign (25% reduction in child poverty in 5 years), a program which brings many groups together to lobby collectively to help the government come up with a plan of action. (Later campaigns will address other groups, such as the disabled). She wants poverty to be a continuing focus of the government after the five years are up, but in the meantime called upon volunteers for children’s reading, breakfast and other programs, as well as lobbying MPPs.  She commended CFUW for its efforts on the poverty file. 

Jacquie Maund revealed Canada now ranks 19th out of 26 industrial countries in the incidence of child poverty, and that 12% of Ontario children (760,000) now live in poverty, the same proportion as in 1989 when the Federal government resolved to end child poverty by 2000.  She attempted to answer three questions:

• Why is there so much poverty in Canada?

1. The social safety net is flawed: EI has gaps (32% of employed women are not covered); The social assistance rate (adjusted for inflation) is unchanged since 1967
2. Permanent jobs are giving way to contract and part-time work, with lower pay, lack of benefits and security.  Systemic discrimination exists against the poor, single mothers, marginalized groups.

• What action is Campaign 2000 taking?

1. It is pushing for specific targets, timetables and funding, and lobbying all national parties to end child poverty in a generation
2. It is calling for a strategy to ensure living wage jobs, affordable housing and daycare, access to post-secondary education and training.

• What can Ontario Council do?

1. Keep lobbying at federal and provincial levels, especially Ontario before its budget in the spring, focusing on childcare.
2. Keep up-to-date with 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction through its website, http://www.25in5.ca .  Ontario Council and Toronto Caucus have endorsed this campaign.
3. Build local awareness through contact with childcare workers, parents and letters to press.

Sept.27th, 2008

Religious Arbitration Revisited- Changes in Family Law - Family Law Education for Women. Where do we go from here?
Speaker: Pamela Cross, lawyer, consultant, activist, feminist

The world of family law can be an impenetrable jungle to women thrust into it in the midst of family breakdown, abusive relationships or child custody disputes. Our speaker described the role of family law in demystifying the law to women, particularly to women in crisis, who have no context to help them understand the system.

Pamela Cross is a feminist lawyer of vast experience working for women’s equality locally and globally. She has been a consultant for several women’s organizations, as well as executive director of NAWL (National Association of Women in the Law), legal director of METRAC (Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence against Women and Children) and director of Advocacy and Public Policy with the YWCA. She was named a YWCA Woman of Distinction.

A particular concern is legal education for women, and she discussed attempts to inform women of their legal rights and the remedies available to them. Women are often not aware that they have a right, for instance, to spousal and child support and property rights, and do not know the difference between marriage and common law relationships. (Common law confers no property rights.)

There can be several barriers to legal education: women in family court are often traumatized, vulnerable and lacking in self-confidence; they may be non-English speakers; if in a situation of geographic isolation, with infrequent courts, and limited access to lawyers, they may have to co-exist with an abusive spouse awaiting a hearing; in some patriarchal faiths women are not aware that their rights under the law are different from the strictures of the faith; legal information may be difficult to access, and may be unreliable, particularly from the internet.

Ms. Cross described education projects underway:

• Provincial government brochures, available in 14 languages
• Campaigns to inform Franco-Ontarien and aboriginal communities
• Luke’s Place (Oshawa) provides legal information, court support, help with affidavits, motions, etc
• METRAC gives information and training to front-line workers
• Springtide Resources assesses workers dealing with women in crisis, offers training in family and immigration law and on-line course (with York U).
• Cleonet is a clearinghouse for information on law
• FLEW (Family Law Education for Women) (grew out of the campaign to halt religious arbitration in Ontario and is funded by over $1 million from the province) has created specialized information for use by agencies helping isolated women.*

• Domestic contracts: women can inadvertently sign away their property rights
• Restraining orders: should be made more enforceable
• The difference in rights between married and common law relationships should be eliminated.

CFUW Ontario Council Violence Against Women Survey
Judie Arrowood, Leaside-East York, chair of the Ontario Council Stop Violence Against Women Sub-Committee, introduced the Report of the CFUW Ontario Council Violence Against Women Survey which was initiated by former RD North Andrea Levan, Sudbury, and undertaken by eleven Ontario CFUW Clubs. All together these Clubs surveyed more than 30 agencies that deal with victims of violence. We quote, however, the report’s recommendations from the front-line workers to CFUW members.

How can CFUW help? The vast majority of answers to this question fall under one or both of the following headings: lobbying/advocacy and increased public awareness.

Two individual responses summarize these concerns particularly aptly:
"Advocate, advocate, advocate. Lobby parliament for changes. Be in the news. Hold a rally. Create a ruckus."
and
"Lobby, lobby, lobby. Educate, inform, train. Bring this issue to everyone you can. We need this issue to create a tipping point – a solid universal response that deems any violence against women and children as unacceptable and intolerable."

In addition to the nearly universal calls for lobbying/advocacy and increased public awareness, there were a number of more specific things that respondents thought groups like CFUW can do around violence against women. These are listed here in no particular order.

• Recognize the violence as it is! - not domestic or family abuse
• Don't put the victim in more danger. She is the expert on her safety
• Work closely with each county's domestic violence group throughout Ontario and the country
• Connect with teenagers regarding violence
• Publicize the need for corrective change (better lighting, emergency signals, video monitoring) to ensure safety in public areas
• Letter writing
• Sharing information from front-line practitioners
• Have guest speakers on the topic of violence
• Be accessible to isolated women: get on line; have toll-free numbers; have directories of lawyers who specialize in family law involving abuse
• Be interested, be thoughtful, be current, be knowledgeable
• Practical help - e.g. providing clothing for women having job interviews; donating items needed for women setting up housekeeping away from an abuser; volunteering; serving as a board member."

We commend and thank all the volunteers from the following Clubs who inquired for us about the reality of violence against women in their community: Barrie, Leaside-East York, Muskoka, Nepean, North Toronto, Oakville, Orangeville, Orillia, Ottawa, Perth & District, Stratford.

We also thank Pamela Scott, M.A., CFUW Leaside-East York and A. John Arrowood, Professor Emeritus University of Toronto for compiling the report.

Report by Peggy Pinkerton

March 8th, 2008

STILL AIN'T SATISFIED: EQUITY AND FEMALE ATHLETES,
Speaker: Laura Robinson, author, playwright, journalist, athlete and coach

We were delighted to have Laura Robinson join us on this snowy morning from Port Elgin. Although much of what she had to say was deeply disturbing to hear, she herself had a positive outlook and encouraged us to learn and act wherever possible.

Laura described the world of competitive sports in Canada based on her experience as a competitive cyclist and cross-country skier. Starting in bicycle racing at age 14 at the Mississauga Cycling Club, she had numerous male and female mentors who encouraged her to develop her skills and to be confident in herself and in her body.

Laura described a number of situations where girls had 40-year old male coaches, one in particular, who used sex as control over the team members. A number of girl athletes, especially in cross-country skiing, were pressured into gradual starvation to have thin bodies, to the point where they ceased to menstruate. In some teams, girls who did not cooperate with sexual favours for coaches or sponsors did not get funding for the best equipment. Laura had to compete with a second-hand bike. Various attempts were made to make the men legally accountable, by charging them, but convictions were very difficult.

Laura's book, Crossing the Line came from her research into the links between aggressive male hockey players and rapes of girls. She cited a case in 1993 in Saskatchewan, where members of a hockey team gang-raped a girl, but were acquitted in a process that was a cover-up by police and lawyers. She found that similar situations happened in various small towns, where the raped girls received no legal or police assistance and were persecuted.

She developed a theory about the cycle of violence which she sees as beginning with the violence in junior male hockey, where some coaches molest young boys, who pass on the violence, in raping or sodomizing girls. She sees this pattern of teaching-learning violence in the military as well as in hockey, and often finds military men willing to speak about similar experiences.

Laura has made the film Front Runners about the aboriginal runners who ran the torch from St. Paul to Winnipeg for the 1967 Pan American Games only to have it taken from them and run into the stadium by white athletes. In 1999 when the Pan American Games returned to Winnipeg those same aboriginal runners returned to run the torch into the stadium. The men who made both runs described violence and atrocities committed on children at their residential school in the 1960’s, some related to competitive running. We learned a good deal of the athletic activities which Laura volunteers for at Cape Croker Reserve Elementary School. Cross-country skiing and cycling teams with donated equipment enjoy their sports. Her teams won prizes at the provincial cross-country skiing competition at Hardwood Hills this winter.

Question period was lively and raised a number of related issues, including the following:

• Women’s hockey has made real progress, although there is manipulation of the image of some of the players. Laura deplores women athletes posing in " T and A" pictures. She questioned whether body-checking should be introduced into women’s hockey as it would likely lead to a more violent sport.
• To get more women reporters in sports, we should petition the newspapers and the CBC.
• The question of the girls’ ski jumping campaign for the 2010 Olympics was raised.
• There are more accredited women coaches at the local level, probably the majority, in women’s sports. But at the higher levels, such as the World Cup, men are the coaches.
• On the topic of fitness and non-competitive children, Laura described her plans to get the Cape Croker children and families involved through finding donations of ordinary bikes and XC skis.
• She is interested in designing space for "moving bodies" within buildings, especially where people are car-dependent.
• Laura spoke of the preparation or lack of it for parents and young athletes to refuse sexual pressures and for parents to be more aware of the pitfalls of intensive coaching.

• Great Girls: Great Canadian Athletes Who Just Happen to be Girls
• She Shoots, She Scores: Canadian Perspectives on Women in Sports
• Crossing the Line: Violence and Sexual Assault in Canada's National Sport
• Black Tights: Women, Sport and Sexuality.

January 19th, 2008

Aboriginal Education and Culture from Pre-school to Post-secondary Graduation

The morning session featured two speakers, both aboriginal, on developments and challenges in aboriginal education, at elementary, secondary and post secondary levels. Elizabeth Bigwin is with the Aboriginal Education Office of the Ministry of Education, an office that was established in 2006 on the present government’s recognizing aboriginal education as a top priority. Lu Ann Hill represents the Aboriginal Institutes Consortium, a group advocating for increased support for aboriginal post-secondary education.

Elizabeth Bigwin described her office’s aims and strategy for restoring respect and collaboration with the province’s 50,000 aboriginal students (First Nation, Metis and Inuit). The aim is to ensure that students achieve the knowledge and skills necessary to function in the mainstream in an environment that recognizes traditional skills and culture, and to increase the system’s ability to this end.

In an attempt to recognize where needs are greatest, Boards of Education are encouraged to self identify as having aboriginal students - so far, 21 (of 72) have, 30 more are in progress. In September 2007 the Office’s efforts expanded to the Secondary level, with dedicated funding of $13 million, with the goal of preparing aboriginal students for post-secondary education.

Specific goals are to increase the educational system’s ability to meet the cultural and learning needs of aboriginal students by:

providing quality services and appropriate curriculum
assisting aboriginal students to meet provincial standards
increasing aboriginal teaching staff
increasing the graduation rate
increasing overall achievement
increasing self esteem
increasing collaboration with aboriginal educators, the Federal government, the College of Teachers, western provinces

The office recognizes the size of its undertaking, but aims to build "the will and skill, one Board, one school, one teacher, one student at a time."

Lu Ann Hill, of the Bear Clan, Six Nations of the Grand River, began with an overview of indigenous education (she prefers the term "indigenous" to "aboriginal", "First Nations", etc), including residential schools and various government initiatives.

She pointed out that until 1951 indigenous people had to relinquish their identity to attend post secondary institutions. Since then, government support and assistance has increased gradually, so that now there are 50 post secondary indigenous institutions in Canada, tasked with providing training and knowledge in many fields, while reflecting indigenous culture and needs.

Enrollment in these institutions has increased 95% in the past five years, but Ms. Hill claims that thousands of qualified applicants are denied access because of lack of funding. The profile of attendees is mainly women, often mature, with family and job commitments.

Problems facing aboriginal institutions:

A lack of adequate, sustained funding

Lack of government and mainstream public recognition of the institutions’ degrees, diplomas and certificates

The government expects that indigenous institutions will perform as well as regular universities and colleges, with much less funding: Ontario gives $1577 per indigenous student, $9667 for each mainstream student

Indigenous institutions are forced into partnerships with mainstream universities and colleges.

A 2001 Federal government report acknowledges the need for aboriginal institutions, but provides no increased funding, with the result that these institutions are now organizing regionally (they are much more successful in Western provinces) and are slowly gaining regional recognition.

Of special concern to Ms. Hill was the possible closure of the First Nations Technical Institute located on the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory east of Belleville, due to a funding impasse between the federal and provincial governments.

CFUW members are urged to lobby their federal and provincial members to provide support for these institutions.

Lu Ann Hill’s presentation www.aboriginalinstitute.com

Peggy Pinkerton

Sept.15th, 2007

Panellists
Liz Couture, Green Party Candidate for Richmond Hill, and President of her Constituency Association
Catherine Fife, New Democratic Party Candidate for Kitchener-Waterloo, and CFUW Kitchener-Waterloo member
Pamela Taylor, lawyer and first Progressive Conservative Candidate for Toronto Centre Riding
Hon. Kathleen Wynne, Liberal Candidate for Don Valley West, and Minister of Education

Chair Elaine Harvey distributed a questionnaire on the referendum on electoral reform, asking for members’ comments. Ontario Council does not have policy on this, but individuals’ opinions will be tabulated and the results posted on the website.

Elaine introduced the four candidates, who were given 15 minutes each for opening statements, to be followed by questions. Candidates had been advised to note the election questions prepared at the March Standing Committee meetings and posted on the Ontario Council website.

Liz Couture, Green Party candidate for Richmond Hill, a private music teacher and president of her constituency association, described her family and personal background, and her diverse interests in music, sports, volunteering and the environment. She stated the Green Party’s commitment to improve sustainability, fight climate change, and work on problems in the health system. The Greens promised no overall change in taxes, but property taxes will be overhauled to tax toxin producers more heavily. Green Party education platform planks were:

1. Quality childcare: Greens would allocate $300 million for a child care program.
2. Education should be considered an investment, not a social cost.
3. There should be no faith-based education. Public funds should be used for public schooling only.
4. There should be environmental education in elementary schools.
5. The funding gap between elementary and secondary school teachers should be ended.
6. Physical education should be mandatory in secondary schools.
7. There should be a cap on university tuition.

1. more environment funding, with emphasis on sustainable growth.
2. no more nuclear power projects.
3. emphasis on conservation, with investments in solar energy.
4. opposed to recent MPP pay raise.
5. in favour of higher minimum wage.

Pamela Taylor, Progressive Conservative, Toronto Centre (new riding), a lawyer and businesswoman, inspired to enter politics by the inaction of government to her concerns as an activist, commented on the strides already made by women in Ontario, and praised the PC position as one of compassion and inclusion, coupled with the need for a healthy economy. PC positions on CFUW issues:

1. Childcare: research is being done, informed by Mustard and McCain.
2. Clawback: is being looked at.
3. Post secondary Education: for stable, multi-year funding.
4. Education: will revisit the funding formula.
5. Electoral reform: want to “reform the legislature, not the electoral system”.
6. Environment: will take a “realistic, practical approach” granting subsidies and incentives to Go Green.
7. Health: will help and hire more nurses.
8. Cities: 2% of gas tax to be directed to infrastructure.

1. Clawback: Liberal Ontario Child Benefit goes beyond the clawback, to help all children, not just those on social assistance.
2. Minimum Wage: raised by Liberals.
3. Home care: $700 million for the Aging at Home program.
4. Cities: gas tax has been returned to the cities.
5. Environment: she cited the green belt growth plan, and favours wind, water and solar power initiatives.
6. Early child Care: programs are being expanded, including full-day kindergarten for four- and five-year olds.

Peggy Pinkerton

March 3rd, 2007

THE REFORM OF ONTARIO’S ELECTORAL SYSTEM:
SAVIOUR OR THREAT TO DEMOCRACY?

The morning speaker was Dr. Graham White, professor of political science at U of T, an expert on Canadian governments, speaking on the potential reform of Ontario’s electoral system.

The Ontario Citizens Assembly, a group of randomly-selected volunteers chosen to reflect the Ontario demographic, is meeting to consider alternatives to the present Single Member Plurality (first-past-the-post) electoral system now in place.

If it recommends changes, a referendum must be held at the October 10th election this year. If the referendum passes, the new system must be in place by the 2011 election.

Prof. White outlined the two basic systems, Single Member Plurality (SMP) and some form of Proportional Representation (PR), stressing that neither was right nor wrong, and that each had characteristics that could be either advantages or disadvantages. The Report

DORIS ANDERSON (1921 – 2007)
The morning session began with a tribute by Margaret McGovern to Doris Anderson, who died on March 2, for her work on women’s issues. It was her dramatic resignation as chair of the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women that led to the inclusion of Article 28 of the Canadian Charter in which rights and freedoms were “guaranteed equally to male and female persons.” Margaret proposed a scholarship on women’s issues to be offered in Ms. Anderson’s memory by CFUW, either at the national or provincial level.

THE FAMILY LAW STATUTE AMENDMENT ACT
Other announcements included a plea for Clubs to pressure MPP’s to proclaim Sections 1, 4 and 5 of Bill 27 (The Family Law Statute Amendment Act, 2006) which are the only sections not yet in force. These are of particular importance to women who may be disadvantaged by religious arbitration of family disputes under the existing law.

January 13th, 2007

CREATING HEALTHY COMMUNITIES THROUGH EDUCATION

Communities are recognizing the interrelationship of social dynamics – something that is currently being called the “social determinants” of health, of educational attainment among other aspects of life.

Two programs were highlighted – Pathways to Education www.pathwaystoeducation.ca and Roots of Empathy www.rootsofempathy.org

The speakers included Sue Sigurdson, EdD, R.S.W, Program Director, Pathways to Education and Lucy Di Carlo, Ontario Provincial Coordinator, Roots of Empathy The mission of The Pathways to Education Program, started in Regent Park, is to reduce poverty and its effects by supporting the development of youth from economically disadvantaged communities. It also promotes their individual health and the health of the community by addressing the two principal social determinants of health: education and income.

In 1996 Mary Gordon, an educator, founded Roots of Empathy, a not-for-profit, evidence-based classroom program that has shown dramatic effects in reducing levels of aggression and violence among schoolchildren while raising social emotional competence and increasing empathy.

Full Report

September 16th, 2006

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CHILDCARE - POLICY & ADVOCACY

The panellists included Gordon H. Cleveland, an economist and professor in the Division of Management at the University of Toronto Scarborough spoke about the economic benefits and effects of child care.

Elizabeth Ablett, the new Executive Director of the Ontario Coalition for Better Childcare discussed the work of the Coalition, the current campaign of Code Blue, and the upcoming work for the elections, both provincial and federal. Full Report

March 4th, 2006

THE HIGH SCHOOL DROP OUT RATE and THE SAFE SCHOOLS ACT:
A Panel Discussion

At the joint morning session, two speakers addressed the related issues of the high school drop-out rate and the Ontario Safe Schools Act. Both speakers have serious issues with the Act, and feel it exacerbates the dropout problem

Selwyn Pieters is a lawyer, specializing in education issues, working with parents and students in areas of human rights, safe schools, expulsions and suspensions. He also has an interest in refugee issues, and is a member of many professional and community associations.

Liz Sandals, MPP for Guelph-Wellington and Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services responsible for the Safe Schools Act Review, is a former chair of her local school board and president of the Ontario Public School Boards' Association from 1998-2002.

.Full Report

January 14th, 2006

The joint Standing Committee morning session was treated to detailed and fact-filled presentations on Health, Safety and Welfare, focusing on response to disasters and the implications of the recent Supreme Court Chaoulli decision.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

Tracey Croft, Emergency Management Coordinator, County of Dufferin, described the wake-up call for the need for local emergency planning offered by recent local disasters, notably the ice storm of 1998, and the perceived Y2K emergency.

MAKING WOMEN SAFER

Dr. Joni Seager is Dean of Environmental Studies at York, and an expert in feminist environmentalism. Her talk countered the notion that disasters are gender neutral.

CHAOULLI v QUEBEC UPDATE

Dr. Colleen Flood, New Zealand-born associate professor of law at University of Toronto and a student of comparative health care policy, gave a scathing critique of the recent Supreme Court Chaoulli decision overturning Quebec's ban on private health insurance.

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September 17th, 2005

WILL TOMORROW BE BETTER?
A Discussion about Women and Violence

Pam Cross, Legal Director, Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence against Women and Children (METRAC)
Eileen Morrow, Executive Director, Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses
Ciara Adams, Amnesty International.

At the morning session members were treated to an up-date on Violence against Women, featuring a panel of activists: Pam Cross, legal director with METRAC, Eileen Morrow, executive director of the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses, and Ciara Adams, representing Amnesty International.

Discussion revolved around the government's Domestic Violence Action Plan, announced in 2004, which is intended to attack the problem in four ways: increased community supports, more training of judges and police, prevention, and justice reform. There were to be changes to the Family Law Act, and more funds were to be allocated, but since then, nothing has happened. Dollars allocated to the program were funds that had been announced previously - there were no new funds; there was no action on child custody, and use of a promised risk assessment tool promised for women in abusive relationships has been severely limited on being challenged by defense lawyers.

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March 5th, 2005

PUBLIC EDUCATION TODAY

Kathleen Wynne, Parliamentary Assistant to Gerard Kennedy, Minister of Education addressed a gathering of Ontario Council CFUW members in the Toronto Clubhouse. Ms. Wynne reported she notices an improved tone in schools since the election of a new government, sensing that educators feel the government is at least listening to their concerns. She told the group that the Liberal Government is working hard to establish a "different way of doing business". Gone is the "fortress mentality" in which a maze of offices led to one closed door after another. The Liberal government intends to reach out and get feedback from constituents.

Also speaking to the group was Annie Kidder of People for Education who spoke of the real issues concerning education, of real children, finances and high school.

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Jan. 15th, 2005

ARBITRATION ACT PANEL

At the January Standing Committee, Hon. Marion Boyd, Chair of the Arbitration Act Review Committee, Nuzhat Jafri of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women and Annie Bunting, Professor in the Law and Society Program at York University gave their views on the proposed revisions to Ontario’s Arbitration Act.

Sept.18th, 2004

WOMEN AND ELECTIONS

In the morning, the speakers, Chi Nguyen, founder of Young Women Vote 20,000 and Peggy Nash of Canadian Automobile Workers Union and member of the Board of Equal Voice, spoke about women and politics.

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