How to Advocate when a Majority Government Exists
The challenge with a majority government is that it doesn’t need to listen to you, especially when it has achieved its majority in the second term. Many majority governments have poor track records regarding ‘listening’, even to their own advisors and even when they know public opinion is against them. However frustrating majority governments are, there are many advocacy options.
The advocacy skills of CFUW and CFUW Ontario Council and its clubs are numerous and well entrenched. Here are some of the tenets we live by. Read more …
January 2023 Advocacy News
Several reports were published in the January 2023 edition of Advocacy News. Click on the links below to read the individual reports. To view the January 2023 newsletter, please click here.
- The Human Rights Tribunal – What Needs to Happen
- Healthcare Privatization in Ontario
- CFUW Windsor’s LTC Primer
- The Greenbelt
February 14 – PETITION e-4185 to STRENGTHEN BAIL LAWS was presented in the House of Commons
| Recently Jackie S from UWC North York and Nancy P from CFUW Orillia travelled to Ottawa to witness Adam Chambers, Conservative Member of Parliament for Simcoe North, read Petition e-4185 in the House of Commons. Watch a short video of the presentation here! One of the CFUW National Resolutions adopted last year was Strengthening Bail Laws to Protect Victims of Intimate Partner Violence. The Resolution was put forward by UWC North York. CFUW Orillia focused their advocacy efforts on this Resolution and, with support of their Member of Parliament for Simcoe North, Adam Chambers, created an online petition urging the Federal Government to take the actions suggested in the Resolution, specifically to amend the bail laws so that repeat violent offenders are not released on bail, thereby improving safeguards for victims of intimate partner violence. The online petition went live on November 8 and by December 8, 2022, when it closed, there were 972 signatures from across Canada. The signing of the petition was a collective effort from CFUW members. The petition was certified and scheduled for presentation in the House of Commons on February 14th. Watch a short video of the presentation here! |
LEADERS’ DEBATE April 12, 2022 @ 7 – 9 p.m.
For the first time in Ontario, and only the second time in Canada, the leaders vying for the election will debate women’s economic issues.
On Equal Pay Day, April 12, 2022, Ontario Equal Pay Coalition will be hosting a debate with three of the leaders, Andrea Howarth (NDP & Official Opposition), Steven Del Duca (Liberal) and Mike Schreiner (Green Party). Premier Doug Ford has another event.
This will be live streamed over multiple video-streaming services. Equal Pay Coalition asks that you register. Click here.
The event will also be found on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/EqualPayON/
For more info about Equal Pay and the actions that you can take, visit http://equalpaycoalition.org/
CHILD CARE ACTION
January 26, 2022 Sign on to an open letter from the Ontario Coalition of Better Child Care and the Association of Early Childhood Educators in Ontario asking for:
- Publicly funded PCR tests for children, families, ECEs and staff, and COVID-19 case reporting in the childcare sector;
- Financial support to licensed childcare programs for recruitment and retention of qualified staff, with 10 permanent paid sick days for mandatory isolation periods
To read the open letter go to https://www.childcareontario.org/open_letter.
Sign on to support the open letter at Sign the Open Letter – The Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care (childcareontario.org).
January 12, 2022 The Ontario Government is discussing the Child Care Agreement but still needs a push. Two requests:
- Sign the petition! Found on the Ontario Council for Better Child Care website. “TELL FORD AND LECCE TO SIGN THE CHILD CARE AGREEMENT” https://www.childcareontario.org/sign_the_child_care_agreement
- Send letters either as a club (to your MPPs) or as an individual (not representing CFUW, just as a mother, grandmother, aunt). Suggested Talking Points.
January 12, 2022 Ontario has a childcare workforce crisis. Please view the video Ontario’s Child Care Crisis from the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, the Association of Childcare Educators Ontario, and the Toronto Community for Better Child Care.
December 15, 2021 Ontario’s child care workforce is pushing childcare to the breaking point. While anxiously awaiting a National Child Care partnership with the Federal Government, the sector cannot increase the number of child care spaces at a proposed fee of $10 a day, so desperately wanted by Ontario Families because of lack of resources.
ELECTIONS
Ontario Election 2022
Ontario’s election is scheduled for June 2nd. Check out Ontario Council’s Election Toolkit – Part 1 which contains information to help prepare you for the election as a voter, supporter or for a Club. Part 2 containing information about issues of concern will be published in late February. Click here for the Election Toolkit on the Elections page.
Municipal Election 2022
Municipal Elections will be held Oct. 24, 2022. For information about the elections, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario has a full page with information on who can vote, who can run, and how local government works in Ontario.
Click here for more information concerning municipalities, their elections, and running for municipal office.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS, PREVENTION AND DETECTION
At the Ontario Council AGM this past May, the membership adopted the resolution, Human Trafficking Awareness, Prevention and Detection.
The Government of Ontario has produced Policy/Program Memorandum No. 166, Keeping Students Safe: Policy Framework for School Board Anti-Sex Trafficking Protocols, which asks schools and boards to develop a protocol to raise awareness and prevent sex trafficking.
This protocol is being developed now by the schools and Directors of Education. For those that want to work on this, two items have been developed and are available on the OC website:
- An advocacy backgrounder that gives you ideas and resources for action within your community
- A template letter for your Director of Education and/or school board
