Current Advocacy Campaigns
Letter-Writing Campaign for Clubs
Letter writing is a forceful form of advocacy. Those written in your own words are powerful and effective. For politicians, they are a guide to local public opinion, and for advocates, they are a simple way to start that conversation, to tell their story, to seek answers. Letters can be that first step in advocacy action
A survey of Ontario Council clubs concerning public policy issues was held in November, 2019. The following issues were ranked the top five:
1. Health: Long Term care, Public Health cuts, Home Care
2. Climate Change
3. Poverty and Affordable Housing
4. Education and schools: Increased class size, Funding, Mental Health support
5. Women’s Rights: Pay Equity, Child Care.
Ontario Council has created a letter-writing package for clubs to use: Backgrounders with talking points and CFUW policy on many of the top five issues; hints about effective letter-writing; Letter-Writing-a Lost Art created by Cheryl Ambrose; CFUW Advocacy Guidelines
Backgrounders:
Health: Long Term Care in Ontario
Climate Change: Carbon Pricing: CFUW Oakville
Clean Your Plate: CFUW Oakville
Poverty and Affordable Housing
Women’s Rights: Early Learning and Child Care
Gender-based Violence: Human Trafficking
Gender-based Violence: Sexual Assault Centres Funding
Advocacy Tools:
CFUW Advocacy Guidelines – who connects to who, and how.
Writing Powerful Letters, a guide
Letter Writing: A Lost Art, 2019
Prepared for the 2019 Federal Election
The following documents (talking points and backgrounders) have been researched and prepared to make it easy for members and clubs to have informed discussions on the topics that we agreed were key issues for the 2019 Federal Election. We encourage you to use them when talking to your friends and neighbours, as well as when canvassers come knocking at your door. Feel free to email them to the candidates in your ridings or print them out to share.
- Climate Change & Environment (Talking points – Backgrounder)
- Pharmacare (Talking points – Backgrounder)
- Housing & Homelessness (Talking points – Backgrounder)
- Poverty (Talking points – Backgrounder)
- Immigration (Talking points – Backgrounder)
- Early Learning & Child Care (Talking points – Backgrounder)
- Pay Equity (Talking points – Backgrounder)
- Indigenous Issues (Talking points – Backgrounder)
HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Human trafficking has been a concern of CFUW Ontario Council for a number of years. Many of our clubs do not need to be told that most young women sex trafficked in Canada are Canadian – they have seen it, heard about it, in their own towns.
Earlier this year, Linda Davis, CFUW London, and President of BPW Canada, alerted us to Project ONRoute, initiated by Kelly Franklin of Courage for Freedom, who are concerned about the exploitation of young girls in south-western Ontario.
We were very pleased that Joy Smith, founder of the Joy Smith Foundation and retired MP and MLA, agreed to speak to us about her work concerning sex trafficking at the national CFUW AGM in Winnipeg. It was while she was a teacher that her son, a police officer with the Integrated Child Exploitation Unit, shared with her the situation concerning child sex trafficking.
Acting on her concerns, Joy started offering seminars for parents, and then entered politics to affect change. As an MP, Joy introduced two pieces of legislation – one to create a National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking and another to stop the use of the internet for trafficking purposes.
For this talk, Ontario Council created a backgrounder with information and links that might be of value to clubs wishing to follow up.
At the same time, Project ONRoute is continuing but under another name. This year, 2019-2020 it has been renamed Project Maple Leaf. Similar to ONRoute, the actual campaign goes from Feb. 22, Human Trafficking Awareness Day in Canada until July 30, 2020, World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. If you would like to get involved in this awareness project, please connect with Teri Shaw, CFUW Ontario Council Advocacy Chair at advocacy@cfuwontcouncil.org
