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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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