The Northern Ontario chapter of REAL Women did a wonderful job in organizing this year’s annual conference in North Bay. It was truly a warm and friendly meeting but it still managed to be kept right on schedule!
All the speakers were interesting and provided helpful information to support the traditional family in Canada.
Our deepest thanks to our hard working members of the Northern Ontario Chapter of REAL Women of Canada. We can’t thank you enough for all you did to make such a great day.
Summaries of the speakers are as follows:
USING LANGUAGE TO IMPACT ON OUR CULTURE
Summary by: Cecilia Forsyth
National President
REAL Women of Canada
A Talk By: Dave Quist
Executive Director of The Institute of Marriage and Family Canada (IMFC)
the policy arm of Focus on the Family Canada
Dave Quist began his talk by highlighting the nuances and changes to language and how we communicate, showing how each affects Canadian society now and in the future. Society has accepted subtle changes to the language we use, without considering the outcome of such changes. To influence society, we must learn how to use language to best present alternative positions and solutions.
Language can be used to cloud a situation. Changing the definition of marriage led to a new definition of parent. The natural parent became the legal parent. This change in terminology contributed to the legal status of the three-parent family in Ontario, and will likely be used in order to continue to stretch and alter family law.
There are also times when clarity is required, but not given. The Prime Minister’s proposed maternal health plan for the G-8 meetings in June is an example. It is a simple concept - to improve the maternal care of pregnant women and infants through better nutrition and supplements, access to clean drinking water, inoculations and the availability of the safe delivery of babies. However, opposition parties and special interest groups use vague definitions of maternal health care to include abortion.
Mr. Quist then shared his ABC’s of communication:
A - Stands for Audience
The first thing to consider is your audience. Who is your target audience? Are they politicians, media, business owners or the water cooler crowd?
Politicians need to hear how proposed policy legislation will affect their biggest resource - THE VOTER. To influence elected officials, we must understand how they think and act. Rather than looking at long-term outcomes, many politicians look at the next election. Our challenge is to put forward a long-term plan with short-term goals, making it a win-win solution for everyone
The media audience is biased, but we are also perceived as biased. The key is to present our data well, giving the 10 second sound bite for radio or TV.
An audience of business owners will want to know how the policy proposals will solve their problems concerning staff, production, morale, costs, etc.
The water cooler audience is the staff of the business owners. They are concerned about their children’s education and care, high taxation and so on. They want to know how proposals apply to them personally.
B - Stands for being bold and brave
There are times when it is difficult to do or say what you need to. Preparation, practice and perseverance is imperative to effectively move our message ahead.
B also stands for Bring your Brain. No matter whom you are talking to, think about what you say, take the high road, no personal attacks, and keep your eyes on your end goal. Using research and data to support our premise makes our position stronger.
C - is for Clarity
Clarity means being able to describe the issue, the policy or the point of view in terms that are unambiguous and concise. Misleading, false or partial statements will discredit our position. Be calm, clear, and concise.
S – Stands for Story
Telling a story helps an audience to quickly grasp a concept, making it easier to understand and remember. Raw data or statistics can be mind numbing, but a story about a personal involvement will have people’s attention and come alive.
There is another S, which stands for Simple. The bottom line is that simplicity is best understood.
Mr. Quist concluded by reminding us to move forward with sound ideas, good policies and unbiased research, to remember our ABC’s, to keep it simple and tell a story.
BLOGGING TO BREAK THE FEMINIST MONOPOLY
Summary by: Corry Morcos
President Alberta Chapter
REAL Women of Canada
Talk by: Suzanne Fortin
Blogger of the Big Blue Wave
Suzanne Fortin, a young mother with three young children and little free time, became aware that her home computer was a tool that could be used to battle the culture wars from her home. She started with a small blog (“blog”, for “web log”), “Big Blue Wave”, and wrote mainly about pro-life concerns. As blogging became more popular, Suzanne’s blog did too. Today, her blog is hugely popular, and well regarded by social conservatives.
Blogging is still new territory for some. Suzanne explained that a blog is an alternate news source, and often counter-cultural to the message of the mainstream media. A blog is often updated on a daily basis, and usually deals with current issues. The interesting thing about a blog is that it has none of the limitations of the mainstream media. Bloggers can invest more time and space in researching a story. Most importantly, a blogger is not limited by the usual left wing bias that we have come to expect from our media. Blogging is an alternate media source, a tool toward a freer market of ideas.
Suzanne’s talk, “Blogging to Break the Feminist Monopoly,” gave several examples of how bloggers were making a huge difference in the culture. Suzanne’s interactive talk allowed the audience to view a television report about abortion censorship on the university campus in Victoria, and then follow the write up of a Maritime blogger to get a totally different approach to the same story. Suzanne also talked about an upcoming Human Rights case against comedian Guy Earle, which was the subject of a complaint by two lesbians, who alleged he discriminated against them during a performance in a Vancouver bar. Suzanne went to Mr. Earle’s blog to read his exact comments on the case, something that the mainstream media had not covered.
Suzanne encouraged all to become more aware and supportive of blogs. Read and follow a blog. If you appreciate the work of the blogger, consider making a donation to help defray costs. Best of all, talk about blogs, and pass along the information to others.
Fortunately for REAL Women supporters, bloggers are working hard to break the monopoly that the left wing has enjoyed in the mainstream media. Kudos to Suzanne at “Big Blue Wave” for all her efforts!
HOW TO LOBBY YOUR MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT
Summary by: Lorraine McNamara
Ontario Board Member
REAL Women of Canada
A Talk By: Pat O’Brien
Former Liberal Member of Parliament
Pat O'Brien, a delightfully down-to-earth politician who has served for 25 years in several elected offices, such as City Councillor and School Trustee, and especially 12 years as a Member of Parliament, expressed his gratitude for the work of REAL Women in supporting families and the protection of human life. Mr. O'Brien eventually resigned from the Liberal Party because he could not support its position on same-sex marriage.
Pat O'Brien admitted that he found politics rewarding - but also stressful. Even when Parliament is not sitting, Members of Parliament are expected to be active in their constituencies and can be approached by their constituents at that time. Too many Canadians assume that their representative is not interested in their views, but his personal experience is that, with rare exceptions, this is not the case.
People of faith, he said, must take the responsibility for the direction in which society is moving, and must be involved in the political process. There are different ways in which the public can be involved. Drawing on his extensive experience, Mr. O'Brien offered a number of Do's and Don'ts on how to effectively influence your Member of Parliament.
Do’s
DO Pray for your Members of Parliament, their spouses, and their children. There is great stress on married life due to the absence from their spouse in Ottawa for long periods of time. The divorce rate among MP’s is high. Pray also for your representatives to be enlightened with respect to issues such as the importance of human life. Never underestimate the power of prayer.
DO Write personal notes or letters to your MP, in your own words, stating your views clearly. Be sure to sign the letter and include your full contact information so he/she knows it’s from a constituent, e.g. addresses, phone and fax numbers. Such letters can be sent postage-free. Personal letters carry far more weight than e-mails or petitions, which can often be ignored.
DO Make an appointment to speak personally with your MP about matters that concern you. Be realistic about the length of time you require - 15 minutes is probably an acceptable time limit. Also, be clear about how many people will attend and limit the number to three or four people at most. If such a request is denied, this will give a good idea about where your representative stands on the issue involved.
DO Invite your MP to speak to your organization, service club, community group, etc. about matters of concern. If an electoral candidate meeting is planned, then all candidates must be invited. Pat mentioned that he had addressed a radical-feminist meeting where the audience was stacked, and this was not easy, but anyone running for office should have enough courage to face opposition.
Don’ts
DON'T Use offensive language, berate your Member of Parliament or use threats such as "I won't vote for you". Be polite and respectful, even if there is a major difference of opinion.
DON'T Use a form letter or postcard to contact your Member of Parliament. These have minimal effect, because they indicate minimal involvement. Also, do not rely on e-mail messages or petitions, because unless they are followed by a personal contact, they are not always effective. (It should be noted, however, that when an issue arises which requires an immediate response, such as a vote coming up quickly in Parliament on an issue, such as euthanasia, for example, it is a good idea to send an e-mail immediately - followed up by a letter or phone call.)
DON'T Flood your Member of Parliament's fax machine or e-mail with numerous repetitive communications. This risks angering your MP and his/her staff, and is counter-productive.
DON'T Focus your efforts on lobbying MP's other than your own. The most effective lobby effort will usually come from the constituents of any given MP.
Mr. O'Brien stressed again that concerned Canadians must become involved in the political process, and do their best to shape how our country runs. He noted that when it came to the same-sex marriage issue, the religious lobby started far too late. This should not happen again. He also stressed, again, that we must pray constantly for the laws we know are truly in the best interest of this nation and all her people.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF REAL WOMEN OF CANADA
Summarized by Pauline Guzik
Director-at-Large
Northern Ontario Chapter
REAL Women of Canada
Talk by Gwen Landolt
National Vice President
REAL Women of Canada
REAL Women of Canada originated at a critical period in Canadian social history. It emerged from an event that profoundly changed the social fabric of our country. That event was the sexual revolution of the 1960’s and 70’s. The Judeo-Christian values on which our nation is founded, were challenged by those wishing to replace duty and responsibility towards one’s family and country with individual wishes and desires, as espoused by the adherents of feminism and homosexuality. This revolution led to a weakened country, weakened families and weakened faith, in ourselves as a nation.
The feminist movement championed the concept that women’s personal happiness and fulfillment had priority over home, family and men. Feminist strength triumphed via the support of the media, the judiciary and the financial support of the government, through the Status of Women. Feminists assumed the role as sole spokespersons for all Canadian women, demanding that many aspects of society, including education, government and religion be restructured to address perceived injustices. REAL Women stepped forward to contradict the feminist ideology, claiming that women do not all think alike, but rather, espouse a variety of views, shaped by differing social, cultural, educational, religious and economic backgrounds. REAL Women presented a voice that wanted to return Canada to the values that made it a strong nation, values based on strong families. In a strong Canada, children are central to women’s lives, not housed in national daycare programs, or worse, aborted when perceived as troubling distractions to women’s economic independence and achievements. Although feminists still hold positions of authority in the courts, in the media and in universities, REAL Women has been acknowledged as a legitimate and credible organization, speaking on behalf of many Canadian women.
Homosexual Agenda
The rise of the homosexual agenda also challenges the family values on which Canada was founded. In an effort to have society accept homosexuality as normal behavior, activists have gained credibility by way of the media, the courts and the educational system. The activists claim that same-sex attraction has a genetic basis and that, as persecuted victims, homosexuals must be protected from rejection, even that based on moral considerations. In fact, no valid scientific study has indicated that homosexuality is genetic. This was not enough to stop the federal government under Prime Minister Paul Martin, from legalizing same-sex marriages, claiming it was a civil rights issue, based on equality. Same-sex marriage is not a civil rights issue because homosexuality is a behavior, not a right. The only sexual relationship that the state must endorse is the one between a man and a woman, which, by nature, is the relationship that produces the next generation, a fact crucial to the future of society. Same-sex marriages serve no public role in society.
We must, however, show compassion towards homosexuals in order to assist them with their problems, stemming from their same-sex attraction.
Like feminist activists, homosexual activists desire to adapt society to their own concept of morality and behavior. The gay agenda permeates the school system, through curricula that portray only positive messages about homosexuality, with no mention of its genuine, negative aspects.
REAL Women does not tolerate the invasion of Canadian families by the social engineers of the feminist and homosexual movements. We will continue to expose the attempts of these activists to push parents aside, in order to gain control of our children’s minds.
The National Archives of Canada has acknowledged the significance of REAL Women of Canada by requesting that our material be stored there, in order to ensure that REAL Women’s record be acknowledged in the social history of Canada.
REAL Women’s efforts will continue until the traditional family values that founded our nation are restored.
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