CFUW Resolutions

To review each Resolution complete with Resolved Clause(s), Background, Implementation and Bibliography, click on this LINK

CFUW encourages its members to use their expertise to bring about change with reference to women’s issues and the empowerment of women as leaders and decision-makers. Please read this year’s resolution submissions and email Jean Tonogai by March 20 with your comments or suggested amendments. Our Resolution Committee will meet March 21 at 2 pm via Zoom to discuss the resolutions and will consider any feedback from members. All members are invited to join this Zoom meeting. Let Jean know if you are interested in attending. Our club will vote to accept the resolutions at our April 11 AGM meeting. They will then go to the National AGM for approval.

A CFUW Resolution is a formal motion proposing positive change about a current issue of provincial, national and/or international importance that CFUW wishes to pursue. If passed by the CFUW Clubs, the proposed resolution becomes CFUW policy and provides direction for advocacy, serves to educate the membership, and increases CFUW’s visibility as a leading Canadian women’s organization.

For a quick overview, below is the intent of each Resolution, the name of the proposing Club or Committee and their explanation about why it is important for CFUW to have this Resolution. The first 2 Resolutions are from National regarding past resolutions that are considered redundant and the remaining four resolutions are new this year.

Resolution 2
Proposer: CFUW Advocacy Committee
Intent: Archiving Select CFUW Policies II
Explanation:

In 2018 the Policy Book Sub-Committee was tasked with enhancing the value of the CFUW Policy Book.  On close review of these policies by the Sub-Committee and other interested CFUW committees, clubs and individuals it was apparent that there were many policies that had had action taken or were out of date.  These policies, while valuable in their time, had outlived their usefulness in the active Policy Book.

The Board-approved policy concerning the archiving of any policies, states that they must be removed through the same method as they were approved, that is, by club discussion and approval at a CFUW Policy Session, and that multiple policies for removal could be combined in one proposed resolution. (Board motion – April 6, 2021)

This resolution is the next step in this process.  If this resolution is approved by the CFUW Policy Session membership these policies will be removed from the CFUW Policy Book and will reside in the CFUW Archival Policy Book, a historical record of adopted resolutions.

The following policies are considered redundant:

1. 1. Finance and Pensions – Stay-at-Home Parenting – 1999
   2. Finance and Pensions – Public Service Superannuation Act – 1991
   3. Finance and Pensions – Registered Pension Account -1986
   4. Finance and Pensions – Income Supplement Spouse’s Allowance – 1986
   5. Finance and Pensions – Signing for Pensions – 1983
   6. Finance and Pensions – Information About Pensions and Benefits – 1983
   7. Finance and Pensions – Charitable Donations – 1980
   8. Finance and Pensions – Old Age Security Act – 1978
   9. Finance and Pensions – Family Unit for Taxation Purposes – 1968
   10. Finance and Pensions – Tax Exemption of Housekeeper’s Wages – 1966
   11. Justice and Legal System – Restoration of Court Challenges Program – 1992
   12. Justice and Legal System – Family Court – 1978
   13. Justice and Legal System – Young Offenders – 1978
   14. Justice and Legal System – Young Offenders: Administrative Body – 1978
   15. Justice and Legal System – Young Offenders: Application – Age – 1978
   16. Justice and Legal System – Young Offenders: Cultural and Linguistic – 1978
   17. Justice and Legal System – Young Offenders: Media Presence in Court – 1978
   18. Justice and Legal System – Women’s Prison – 1978
   19. Justice and Legal System – Hate Propaganda -1966
   20. Justice and Legal System – Marriage Age – 1965
   21. Justice and Legal System – Jury Duty – 1964
   22. Justice and Legal System – Contraception and the Criminal Code – 1964
   23. Justice and Legal System – Contraception and the Criminal Code – 1964

   23.  Justice and Legal System – Divorce/Separation – 1964

   This resolution will provide a summary of the purpose of each policy along with an explanation of why the policy is considered redundant.

   Resolution 3
   Proposer: CFUW Halifax
   Intent: Immigration Detention
   Explanation:

   The following quote from “I Didn’t Feel Like a Human in There”, a joint publication by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, summarizes the immigration detention problem in Canada:

   “Despite its reputation as a refugee-welcoming and multicultural country, Canada incarcerates thousands of people on immigration-related grounds every year, including people who are fleeing persecution, those seeking employment and a better life, and people who have lived in Canada since childhood.  Immigration detainees are held for non-criminal purposes but endure some of the most restrictive conditions in the country, including maximum security jails and solitary confinement, with no set release date.”

   The above description of what happens to immigration detainees should be unacceptable in a country which was built by immigrants.  Increasingly there is more documented evidence regarding how both foreign nationals and permanent residents are taken into detention and are treated unjustly.  This includes women and children and the risk of family separation. A CFUW Policy addressing the injustice of immigration detention should be a welcome addition to our advocacy portfolio.  Seeking asylum is not an unlawful act.

   The intent of this resolution is to advocate for foreign nationals and permanent residents who are detained in an incarcerating institution while proceeding through the status determination process.

   Resolution 4
   Proposer: CFUW Hamilton
   Intent: The implementation of a comprehensive federal/provincial maternal death prevention strategy
   Explanation:

   With reviews of healthcare systems being undertaken in our country, there is an opportunity to improve the tracking and prevention of women who die while giving birth – or after birth – across Canada.

   An initiative in this area would meet the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) #3 which reads: Good health and well-being. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. Its Maternal Health Target notes that, “A person’s health at each stage of life affects health at other stages and also can have cumulative effects for the next generation. Women who remain healthy during pregnancy and after birth are more likely to stay healthy later in life and have better birth outcomes, influencing infancy, childhood and adulthood…Action is necessary across sectors and settings to eliminate avoidable maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity.”

   According to Statistics Canada, 523 women died from complications of pregnancy or childbirth between 2000 and 2020. Dr. Jocelynn Cook, the chief scientific officer of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada (SOGC), says no one really knows how many mothers die during pregnancy or in the months after from such conditions such as pre-eclampsia, however. (See the October 2022 CBC investigation into this problem: Canada significantly undercounts maternal deaths, and doctors are sounding the alarm;  ‘I don’t know if I’m going to wake up’: Mothers share stories of pregnancy-related complications ; The Current’s Grappling with maternal death in Canada.)

   CBC’s investigation noted that our country’s data is so incomplete that an international report by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and others estimates Canada’s maternal mortality rate to be as much as 60 per cent higher than what is reported by StatsCan. While still low by global standards, this estimate would put Canada at double the rate of other high-income countries such as the Netherlands, Ireland and Japan, and in the top third of countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2017.

   Resolution 5
   Proposer: CFUW Perth and District
   Intent: Fair Treatment for Canadians Suffering from Chronic Lyme Disease and Other Tick-Borne Diseases
   Explanation:

   Lyme disease, transmitted through a tick bite, is the most common vector-borne illness in North America, with the Centre for Disease Control in the United States estimating over a half million new cases of Lyme disease each year. Many people who contract Lyme disease end up with co-infections caused by other microbes transmitted by the tick bite. Because of improper diagnosis and treatment of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases in Canada, the number of Canadians with debilitating chronic illness from Lyme and other tick-borne diseases (hereafter referred to as Lyme+) is growing rapidly.

   The medical profession in Canada does not recognize chronic Lyme+ as being an ‘official’ disease despite over 300 peer-reviewed science publications supporting the existence of chronic infection and its debilitating, persistent effects. Canadians suffering from chronic Lyme+ are discriminated against and denied medical treatment under Canada’s universal health care system. As a result, Canadians are forced to remortgage their home or use retirement savings to pay out of pocket for treatment at private clinics in Canada, the United States, or beyond, with most spending tens of thousands of dollars. Those without access to money to pay for private treatment often become so debilitated that they cannot work and yet they cannot receive disability benefits because chronic Lyme+ is not recognized as an official disease by Canada. Despite chronic Lyme+ and long-haul Covid both being chronic systemic inflammatory syndromes with similar symptoms, patients in Canada can receive treatment for long-haul Covid under our publicly funded health care system, while those with chronic Lyme+ cannot. Consequently, those who suffer from chronic Lyme+ are discriminated against based on the type of diseases they have. Also, women are disproportionately impacted by Lyme+. As a result of chronic suffering and lack of access to effective or affordable treatment, the suicide rate amongst those suffering from chronic Lyme+ is 75% higher than the general population.

   Resolution 6
   Proposer: CFUW International Relations Committee
   Intent: Impact of Trade Agreements
   Explanation:
   CFUW does not have a resolution on trade agreements and their impact on human rights and issues such as food security, jobs and immigration. Most Canadians are unaware of the significance and ramifications of these agreements. We cannot effectively lobby governmental bodies on behalf of women and children both in Canada and abroad on the impacts of world trade agreements without policy supporting such actions.

   The schedule for Resolutions shown below is found on pages 3 and 4 of the document Resolutions Information and Guidelines 2022-2023 which was workshopped in a meeting with Club members on Sept. 22.  (The recording can be found here, passcode: 6dr.WA5G) Please refer to the document for the whole process. Please find the full resolutions process schedule here.

   If you have questions or comments, please contact Grace Hollett, CFUW National, Resolutions Committee Chair.