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Thursday 15 November 2012

The Case for a Basic Income

There is much being written and discussed about poverty these days. Not surprisingly when the economy tanks the poor suffer even more than the rest of us. While corporations are sitting on record levels of assets, food banks struggle to keep up with an ever increasing demand. Governments seem to have abandoned their role in promoting a greater social good, leaving it to the free market economy to create jobs to look after people. But having a job, even a full-time job is no guarantee of living free from poverty. 

The free market, without proper oversight, has resulted in a polarized society: the haves and the have-nots. How did we allow this to happen? Why do we sit idly by and allow it to continue? Do we see the poor as different from the rest of us? 

Conservative Senator Hugh Segal is encouraging us to look at poverty in a different light. Maybe poverty is not the outcome of poor health, criminal activity and low educational attainment. There is mounting evidence that poverty is the cause of these social ills and it is costing us dearly.

If we continue to do business as usual our social safety nets will become increasingly unaffordable. Our health care system, courts and jails, and special education programs will not be able to keep up.

Senator Segal urges our governments to consider a basic income floor below which no Canadian would be allowed to fall. A basic income program could be administered very efficiently through the income tax system, similar to the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) for seniors.

You can read more about Senator Segal’s thoughts on a guaranteed annual income on his website.

Or check out TVO’s The Agenda Episode Nov. 15, 2012 Politics and Poverty Reduction.

Teresa McKeeman, President
CFUW Guelph

Wednesday 14 November 2012

Getting Social

I'd like to tell you a little story. Apologies for all the “I”s. 

Canadian Cancer Society is a big machine, and has lots of tools in place for communicating with participants and donors. I have been Chair of Communications for the Canadian Cancer Society's Guelph Relay for Life (Guelph Lake Conservation Area, Guelph Ontario June 7, 2013 - 7 pm to 7 am) for the last couple of years.

On a local level, I do my part by publicizing Relay related events in print media using paid ads and free notices in community calendars. I write short announcements and I design print ads. I also use Facebook to promote activities among our subscribers in the hope that they will "share" them, thereby broadening our reach.

Last year I started posting images of print ads on Facebook. One of our highly committed committee members did his bit and "shared" the images, so they now appear on his Facebook timeline. Recently, he attended a Relay For Life Summit in Toronto and met a delegate from Kawartha. They friended each other on Facebook. She saw the PR images I had posted, and asked about them. He emailed me, ccd her, and the end result was that I modified a copy of my original ad, changing the date and contact information, tweaked it to make it better and sent it off to her. It took minutes.

Being the curious person that I am, I Googled her. I discovered she is a cancer survivor, an incredible professional photographer and we have a second mutual acquaintance. We have developed a relationship that I hope will continue as we help one another in our respective Relay roles. This relationship will be sustained via Facebook. I will enjoy seeing her wonderful photography. She may be less impressed with my advocacy shares but will appreciate the work that I do to promote Relay. 

The world is small. Sometimes we start with fewer than six degrees of separation and end up with none.

Be brave. It's good to share.

Cheryl Ambrose
Chair, Communications
CFUW Guelph

Wednesday 3 October 2012

2012 International Day of the Girl Child in Guelph



Last December, following a two-year petition by Plan International, the United Nations declared October 11 2012 the first International Day of the Girl Child. This day will promote girls' human rights by highlighting persistent gender inequalities between girls and boys around the world.

The theme for the 2012 International Day of the Girl Child is "Ending Child Marriage." This practice violates the rights of millions of girls every year. It robs them of their childhood, it disrupts their education, and it jeopardizes their health. Child marriage limits girls’ opportunities and impacts all aspects of their lives.
 
On October 11, 2012, between noon and 5 pm, CFUW Guelph will be screening four films highlighting the struggle of girls, at home and abroad.
  • Shannen's Dream is a film about Shannen Koostachin and her belief that every First Nation child should have the right to go to a safe and ‘comfy’ school.  
  • A Walk to Beautiful, an award winning feature-length documentary, tells the stories of five Ethiopian women who suffer from devastating childbirth injuries and embark on a journey to reclaim their lost dignity.  
  • To Educate a Girl, filmed in Nepal and Uganda, two countries emerging from conflict and struggling with poverty, addresses the question “What does it take to educate a girl?” 
  • Mohawk Girls, filmmaker Tracey Deer, like half the teenagers in Kahnawake, utilized government subsidies to attend private school in Montreal. Vowing never to return, she left the reserve to attend college in the U.S. Now a graduate of Dartmouth University, she has come home to Kahnawake to play a role in the evolution of her community.

Admission is free.
Date: Thursday, October 11, 2012
Time: 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Place: Guelph Public Library
For more information, email us.

Wednesday 19 September 2012

Issues and Action Committee



You would expect a committee with a name like ‘Issues and Action’ should have many issues to consider and many actions to undertake! That is exactly what we do. This committee assists the executive in learning about and advocating for CFUW policies and concerns to local councils, MPs and MPPs. These policies have been determined through a grass-roots process of study and debate by all CFUW Clubs in Canada.

This year we will focus on our Club’s own resolution proposal about adequate income for Canadian families that we are preparing for the 2013 CFUW AGM. There will be other issues as well. Check out the CFUW website to see what CFUW is doing. (One important request is that Club members support Bill C-305 re Public Transit policy (read more). And of course, we'll prepare for our visits to MPs and MPPs, bringing our highest priorities to the attention of our parliamentarians.

Mary McEwen, Chair
Issues and Action Committee
CFUW Guelph