BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

REAL Women's annual Conference was a wonderful opportunity to meet with like-minded, concerned women, and to have the opportunity of listening to excellent speakers. I know I come away from these conferences renewed both in mind and in spirit. Our deepest thanks to all those who spent long hours organizing such an excellent conference.

Since REAL Women of Canada celebrates its twentieth anniversary this year, I think at this time it would be appropriate to provide some historical background on our organization.

During the planning stages for the Canadian Charter of Rights in 1981, the powerful government-funded, radical feminist groups, claiming to speak for "the women of Canada," were able to have fundamental changes made to the Charter to broaden the meaning and intent of "equality" in order to suit their agenda. The result was that the Charter was used by the courts to further the feminist agenda on issues such as abortion, homosexual "rights," sexual assault (by placing the onus on males to prove "consent", regardless of the circumstances), curtailing of religious rights, etc. Today we are reaping the unholy harvest of court-dictated rulings which undermine our traditional family values, and which are at least partly due to this feminist intervention.

At that time, unfortunately, there was no organization in Canada to contradict the feminists' unilateral assertion that they spoke for the "women of Canada" or "52% of the population" as they were fond of saying. It was then that Gwen Landolt and six other concerned women met around her kitchen table to form a new women's movement which would represent the real majority of Canadian women. These women came from many walks of life, faiths and education and cultural backgrounds It was a true mix of Canadian women. The women were: Grace Petrasek, Pat Laughran, Jean Murphy, Margaret Gordier, Helen Smouter and Femmie VanderBoom.

From such simple beginnings, REAL Women of Canada was born. Someone suggested the name R.E.A.L. Women (Realistic, Equal, Active, for Life), and in September 1983, REAL Women of Canada was federally incorporated. It was decided at that time to request funding from the federal government, since the feminist groups were receiving hundreds of thousands of government dollars each year. While REAL Women did not necessarily agree with special interest funding, we believed that in order to be on a level playing field with feminists, we were obliged to seek similar funding. Also, if the government would agree to provide some funding, then REAL Women would have credibility as a legitimate women's organization. Not surprisingly, we could not even get an application form, despite numerous requests from the Women's Program. It was then we came up with the bright idea of sending a request for an organization called the "National Association of Lesbian Mothers" to the program. Lo and behold, the application form arrived without delay, together with a welcoming letter from the Women's Program! We have retained the documentation on this remarkable experience with government funding, to prove our point that it is a highly discriminatory practice. With intense political pressure, we did initially receive some government assistance to help cover the costs of our annual conferences. The feminists, however, received funding for operating expenses in addition to special project funding. As a result, the grants we received were always just a fraction of what was granted to feminist organizations such as the National Action Committee on the Status of Women (NAC). However, even this paltry funding has come to an end, and for the past four years our organization has subsisted on donations and membership fees only.

Despite this lack of government assistance, REAL Women has thrived! Where other organizations are losing members and having difficulty surviving, we have been more active than ever. We continue to make presentations and to submit briefs to all levels of government, to MPs, and we continue to make a difference at international UN conferences. We continue to intervene in anti-family court actions, and we continue to produce our informative bi-monthly newsletter, Reality. The secret of our success? We can attribute this to the many women who volunteer their time and expertise, the tremendous support we receive from our members, and especially, I firmly believe, the grace of God.

REAL Women of Canada looks forward to the next twenty years with joy and anticipation!

God bless!

BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS