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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
We have had another unusual weather event
and as I write this, my children have constructed a 150-foot
long toboggan run with a 20 foot drop over the length in our
back yard. This snowfall was above knee deep before it started
to compact. It will be gone by the time you receive this newsletter,
but the echoes of children's triumphs and peals of laughter
linger on.
REAL Women of Canada will be very busy in
the next few months. We will be presenting a brief to the
Standing Committee on the Status of Women in February on the
cuts to the Status of Women. We also will be appearing before
the Human Resources Committee on the issue of child care,
and also the Justice Committee on the issue of raising of
the age of consent. We are also continuing to meet with like-minded
organizations on the marriage issue to discuss our future
options on it.
It is possible that we will have a spring
election. The budget is expected to come out in March with,
hopefully, some great things for the family in it. The opposition
parties may decide to reject the budget which will result
in a new election.
One of the positive things expected to be
introduced in the budget is income splitting for Canadian
families. We have been calling for this change to level the
playing field in how single income and double income families
are treated under the Income Tax Act for years! Income splitting
for seniors has recently been allowed after years of lobbying
so treating younger, non-retired Canadian families the same
is only fair and reasonable.
Another issue that is exciting is the possibility
of a Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) which will
allow family members to save or set aside money for the care
and use of their disabled children or other family members
without affecting the disabled person's provincial disability
benefits. The RDSP hit the political consciousness before
the last election when an excellent study was released on
how much money it would save the government. In the last election,
it was part of the Liberal election platform. When the Conservatives
won, it was introduced as a good idea in the 2006 budget!
It seems only reasonable that the NDP will also support the
RDSP as well. This measure will fill the gap for disabled
Canadians who have been systemically discriminated against
until now. Do contact your MP, no matter what their political
affiliation, and request that they support the budget for
these reasons.
Also, write letters to the editor; take everything
you read in the big media with a grain of salt and a large
dose of common sense; work for and donate to the political
party of your choice, and pray that our next government will
be a majority which can effectively and efficiently make Canada
a better place for all Canadians.
Don't forget to come to our Annual General
Meeting to be held in Ottawa on Friday, April 27th, 2007.
There will be no conference this year, but next year, (2008)
will be our 25 Anniversary Conference and it promises to be
a grand and glorious affair and well worth the wait and the
trip! It will be held in Ottawa. We had been hoping to have
our conference this year in New Brunswick but we discovered
that our volunteer organizers lived too far out of the larger
cities with direct flight airports and thus, were unable to
organize for us. Any volunteers out there for a future conference
in the Maritimes? Let me know!
Good bye till next time!
Laurie
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