RED DEER – The Federated Women’s Institutes of Canada straddled the child concern spectrum last week by being both prudish and activist.
While one resolution asked the federal government regulator to stop vulgar language on TV and radio, another supported a national child-care policy to help rural families. FWIC delegates passed both resolutions at their triennial meeting in Red Deer June 14-17, which attracted more than 300 women from across Canada.
On the broadcasting issue one delegate from Newfoundland suggested that action could start at the bottom if people would turn off offensive programs and write the station.
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Earlier in her speech to delegates, FWIC retiring president Margaret Yetman said it was important that child care be available, accessible, sustainable, affordable and of high quality. She drew applause from the group when she said, “it is important it is there for all Canadian families.”
Yetman told delegates that FWIC is part of a coalition that is drafting a proposal to the federal government to set up a national day-care system. Other members of the coalition include the National Farmers Union, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, Rural Voices, the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
During debate on the child-care resolution, Doreen Holden of Saskatchewan said a 2001 survey found 600,000 child-care spaces in Canada, with about 235,000 of them in Quebec. Outside of that province there was room for only one in eight children. Delegate Justina Hoppe of Manitoba wondered if the FWIC was asking too much of the federal government and that maybe lobbying for rural child care should occur at the provincial level because each province has distinctive needs.
In other resolutions that carried and now become FWIC policy, the group wants the federal government to ensure that country of origin and country of packaging be listed on all food labels, including meat. Speakers to the motion said Canadian consumers want to support their farmers and they also want high safety standards. Also approved were motions asking for an improved national highway system and for the 911 emergency call system to be national and interchangeable, rather than stopping at provincial borders.
Constitutional changes drew sharp debate when British Columbia delegate Aline Kritzinger challenged changes to the voting system. She and others objected to amendments that the FWIC lawyer had suggested that would bring it in line with Industry Canada rules. The delegates wondered why an independent organization had to follow a government department’s standard.
Kritzinger went further and said perhaps FWIC should not just tinker with the rules but throw them out. At FWIC conferences, which are held every three years, each province has 10 official delegates who can vote. The other women at the conference can only listen to the debate.
Why not allow all delegates to vote on the resolutions, Kritzinger asked.
Yetman said that might be something the incoming FWIC executive could deal with before the next convention in Charlottetown, P.E.I., in 2009.
Incoming FWIC president Sheila Needham of Quebec said the major issues during her three-year term will be increasing the membership from the present 14,292 and improving internal issues such as communication so all members know what’s happening in the 1,082 branches throughout Canada. As well, she would like to expand the Into the North project that was started in 2005, saying, “it’s a big north out there.”
Project chair Lynn MacLean said the northern program was regarded as a success, not only for reinvigorating FWIC but also supporting two aboriginal communities in Labrador.
“It’s something that members can get their hands on literally, sewing and knitting.”
The project saw donations of 90 boxes of children’s clothing and toys and $19,000 in cash raised by the FWIC members to help 600 people in Hopedale and 1,300 in Sheshatshui, half of whom are under the age of 18 and many of whom sniff gas or drink alcohol.
MacLean noted this was not the first time FWIC had supported northern communities. From 1964-88, the national group sent money to WI branches in the Yukon and Northwest Territories. It discontinued the project and decided to direct the funding to each province’s north instead.
In other business, the FWIC had a surplus of nearly $17,000 for 2006. It spent $73,329 on administration and $41,331 to run the Adelaide Hoodless Homestead, a national historic site near Hamilton, Ont., which was the birthplace of the founder of the WI movement.
From among three candidates, Ruth Blenkhorn of Nova Scotia was elected as the new president-elect. She will be president from 2009-12.
