President's Message

President's Annual Report 2023/24

The end of our 2023/2024 year, marks the end of my second year as your President. The two-year term has gone quickly and I have enjoyed working with you.

 As your President, I chaired our monthly General Meetings which are held on the fourth Wednesday of the month. As the Local Council House was booked in the early Fall, we held our September meeting at Janet Willwerth’s home and our October meeting in the gathering room in Jean Shaw’s condo. I thank both of them for their gracious hosting of our group. The other meetings were held at the Local Council House except for the January and February meetings which were held via Zoom. During COVID, we had held our meetings via Zoom and it was decided to continue to do so for the January and February meetings due to the possibility of inclement weather. I thank Margaret Therrien for setting up the Zoom meetings for us.

 Executive Meetings were held as needed. The Executive met on June 15 and September 22 at the home of Elaine Gunn to plan the program for the Fall. We met on January 17 at Elaine’s to finalize speakers for the Winter and Spring meetings as well as to make plans for taking part in The Coldest Night of the Year walk on February 24 and for our fundraiser yard sale on May 25. With thanks to Elaine for so willingly hosting these meetings and providing us with delicious coffee and treats. Susan MacInnis graciously hosted the Executive on April 10 at her condo. We enjoyed the tour of her lovely newly-renovated space as well as the coffee and treats she provided

 As your President, I attended meetings of the CFUW Halifax Issues and Advocacy Committee and the ARC AGM as your voting delegate.

 I belong to Nimrod, and enjoy the Coffee and Conversation and Lunch Bunch get-togethers, as well as being part of one of the Book Exchange groups.

 It has been a busy but fun, informative, and interesting year with lots of wonderful conversations. I very much enjoy working with you.

PROGRAM FOR 2023/24

Our first meeting of the year was held on September 27 at the home of Janet Willwerth. We began the gathering with refreshments and time for conversation, a lovely way to begin the year. The General Meeting followed. The afternoon ended with the auctioning of a beautifully-decorated pillow created by Carol Bryson with the proceeds going towards our Scholarship Fund.

 In October we met in the common room in Jean Shaw’s condo on October 25. We began with our speaker, Jennifer Thorpe, a midwife, who spoke passionately about her work in helping women through labour and delivery, followed by tea and cookies, with time to speak with Jennifer, and then our General Meeting.

We met at the Local Council House on November 22.  Lezlie Lowe, the author of The Volunteers: How Halifax Women Won the Second World War, spoke about the writing of this book. In her research, she discovered that over one million service members moved through Halifax during the war. Halifax women saw the poor conditions which service members had to negotiate before heading to Europe such as lack or proper sleeping areas, a rise in illness due to overcrowding, and a general need for support. Women’s and service organizations organized dances, meals, and places to sleep. Our General Meeting followed.

Our January meeting was held via Zoom on January 24. Our scholarship winner for 2023/24, Alicia Wright, attended and was introduced to us by Mary-Jane O’Halloran, chair of the Scholarship Committee. Jill MacLean, author of The Arrows of Mercy, spoke to us about her book.

In February, we again met via Zoom, on the 28th.  We began with our General Meeting with our speaker, Seth Klein, joining us following our meeting. Because he was speaking to us from his home in another part of Canada, we appreciated the usefulness of Zoom. Mr Klein, the author of A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency, spoke to us about his book. He was a very engaging speaker while speaking about ways to deal with the climate crisis.

In March, we were back at the Local Council house for our meeting on March 27. We discussed the CFUW resolutions for 2023/24, which were presented by members who had studied them.

At our April 24 meeting, Kolade Boboye, from Hope Blooms, spoke to us about his work with this group which began when he was 7. He is now in his twenties and spoke with passion about all the good community-building initiatives this group has offered to Halifax for many years. His talk included a video of the group’s appearance on Dragon’s Den. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

The May meeting and AGM is our last meeting of the year. We will begin with a catered lunch followed by our General and Annual meetings.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank those who found our speakers: Susan MacInnis, Mary-Jane O’Halloran, Lorraine Baxter, and Janet Willwerth. I also thank Elaine Gunn who organized the refreshments for our meetings and Susan MacInnis who looked after this task while Elaine was away.

Margaret Machum

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President's Message September 2023

Although it has been a Summer of unprecedented fires and floods, I hope that all of you have had happy and relaxing times with family and friends, and perhaps some travels. I did enjoy seeing all of my children and a well-overdue trip to visit with my sister in British Columbia. Now, September is here with the start-up of meetings and other commitments. For CFUW Halifax, the Executive met last week and worked on the finalizing of our program for 2023/24. We have incorporated into our planning topics related to the CFUW resolutions of last year and current issues. I think that you will find our speakers and topics of interest. The first General Meeting will be held this Wednesday, September 27 from 12:00 to 3:00. Our time together will include our annual Social with sweets and tea with the opportunity to chat together and catch up on each other’s news. We will also be holding a raffle of a beautiful needlepoint pillow with proceeds to go to the Scholarship Fund. Tickets are $10 each so come with some cash! As the Local Council House is not available to us for the months of September and October, we are currently working on finding a space for our meeting this week. I have approached several churches and will let you know the location when it is finalized. I look forward to working together with you over the coming year, my second year as your President.

Submitted by Margaret Machum, President

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President's Message September 2022

As I take on the role as President of CFUW Halifax I have been reflecting  on the circumstances that made me aware of the Canadian Federation of University Women organization.  The first time that I heard of CFUW was through me mother-in-law, Isobel Fay, who was invited to be the Treasurer for National by her friend, the National President Gwen Black.  Both of them lived in Sackville, NB and Joyce Ferguson was asked to join them as National Secretary.  This 'Sackville Team' worked well together and I was impressed by all that they did.

Moving forward several decades and after I had been living in Halifax for quite a few years, I met Vivian Leighton at an event involving environment and climate change issues.  At that time I was giving workshops on how to deal with climate change issues.  At that time I was giving workshops on how to deal with climate change and Vivian told me that CFUW had just completed a resolution on the topic.  Once I expressed interest in joining she presented me to the Club

I have very much enjoyed being part of CFUW Halifax since, through the Lunch Bunch, Book Exchange, Issues Committee and the General Meetings.  I have been impressed with the knowledge and career experiences of all of you as well as your energy and commitment to the business of the Club.

I am deeply honoured to have been invited to be your President.  I am excited to take on this responsibility and am looking forward to working with all of you as we move through 2022/23.

We are beginning the year with an in-person meeting on September 28 at St Andrew's United Church.  There will be a short business meeting followed by a time to talk with each other while we enjoy tea and food, including cake.  It will be so nice to be together in person.  We are meeting at St. Andrew's as the Council House is undergoing  renovations.  These upgrades should be finished soon and we will return to the Council House for our October and November Meetings.  It should be a good year with interesting speakers and events planned.

Margaret Machum

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President's Annual Report 2021/22

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

Since we had not seen one another over the summer months and Covid still had us in its grip, our opening meeting was devoted to a Social Time on Zoom—an old-fashioned tea party where we dressed up, wore our best hats, drank tea from our best china cups, and had a time of sharing news and what we did on our holidays. Many had made local trips to see parts of the Maritimes, and many had enjoyed life at the cottage. It was a fun time for catching up with friends!

OCTOBER 27, 2021

Our speaker was Jalana Lewis, Director of African Nova Scotia Community Engagement at Dalhousie. Jalana is a Dalhousie graduate with a degree in law. She was prepared for a life of service because she grew up with family conversations about how she could be a force for change in her community. She grew up in north end Halifax, but she has connections with Hammonds Plains settled by black refugees from the War of 1812 about the same time as Lord Dalhousie arrived here. Her father is from Trinidad and her grandmother turned 100 on July 1. She attended French Immersion school and was an undergraduate at Concordia. She is grateful to the IBM program (Indigenous, Black, and Mi’kmaq Initiative Program) at the Dal Law School.

 Jalana talked about problems and issues in her community. Fewer African NS students graduate. They have more suspensions from high school, and they are more subject to street checks. There are problems with the transfer of land titles from 200 -300 years ago. There is a lack of black representation within the Bar. Health Care access is a problem. In 52 African NS Communities there are no clinics.

 There are, however, signs of progress. 1. The creation of the African NS Justice Institute. 2. The increase in the number of black social workers and specialized clinics. 3. There is more political engagement for African Nova Scotians. 4. The Dalhousie Office of Human Rights has a NS Advisory Council in liaison with historic African NS Communities. They are seeking financial aid and increased awareness of opportunities for black NS students and faculty. At present the number of black Dal students is only 1.5%, the staff is only 3%, and the faculty is only 4%. There is much room for change!

November 24, 2021

We were all especially happy to welcome Stephen Kimber as our November speaker because he spoke about his recent book about one of our favorite Haligonians—Alexa McDonough—in his book called Alexa: Changing the Face of Canadian Politics. In introducing Stephen, Jean Shaw called him one of our favorite people. He is a graduate of QEH, Dalhousie, and Goucher College in Baltimore where he obtained his MFA in Creative Non-Fiction. He is the Director of the School of Journalism of Kings College, President of the Writers Federation of NS, as well as a former speech writer for Alexa.

 Stephen said that Alexa did a great deal for the empowerment of women. She did not become premier or prime minister, but she led the NDP at both levels. She was a trail blazer who changed the face of politics. She became interested in politics in 1973 when she was both a mother and a social worker. She soon became the leader of the provincial NDP at a time when there was not even a washroom for female members of the legislature. Even though her party never formed the official opposition, Alexa kept on going. Sadly, she spent her last years suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease, but she kept on going!

January 26, 2022

The January meeting was a big event for us because we welcomed the New Year by welcoming clubs from across the country to join us on a National Zoom to hear our speaker, Hanna Gross from Amnesty International, speak on the topic of “Welcome to Canada—Amnesty International and Human Rights Campaign on the Path to Abolish Immigration Detention in Canada.”

 Hanna is a lawyer and researcher with Human Rights Watch who has been researching immigration detention, has been involved in five major reports, and has worked with the UN High Commission on Refugees.

Canada is perceived as a welcoming place, but people coming here can endure very restrictive conditions of confinement with no date of release. Parents can be handcuffed, and children taken to another room. These restrictions are also directed against people of colour. The Canadian Border Services Agency has sweeping police powers with no civilian oversight. Ontario, BC, and QC have immigration holding centers, and provincial jails are used in other provinces.

 The #Welcome to Canada program was launched last October based on the premise that we should truly welcome people to Canada. There is a strong case under international law to eliminate the worst conditions in ON, BC, and QC. There is a hope that this system, can be gradually abolished as awareness is raised.  

February 23, 2022

Our speaker, Gerald Gloade, from Debert met us on Zoom to talk about the First Nation Perspective on the Early History and the Natural History of our Province and the Mi’kmaw Ecological Calendar. Gerald is the Program Development Officer for the Mi’kmaw Debert Cultural Centre and a resident of Millbrook First Nation. Gerald began as a graphic designer for the province, but he became very interested in learning about indigenous life before the Europeans arrived. His training in forestry education led him to his work of sharing his culture and history as a Mi’kmaq storyteller.  Some of Canada’s oldest archaeological finds are found in his area. His people have occupied these lands for one thousand years having arrived after the last glaciation. Many of the artifacts of these peoples are at the Canadian Museum, but efforts are being made to bring them home to Nova Scotia. Artifacts are made from local materials such as amethyst, agate, or bone. Gerald also preserves Glooscap legends and traditional knowledge. Legends are used as warnings to children. The Mi’kmaw annual calendar has 13 months, and the moon is very important as it tells what is to come. They have their own legend about the man in the moon. There are on-going tours of the Debert archaeological site, as well as a tree breeding center, and an interpretive walking trail.

March 23, 2022

The March Meeting was devoted to discussion of 6 Resolutions which came from National.

 Resolution 1 and Resolution 2 deal with Archiving Selected Policies from the CFUW Advocacy Committee. These Resolutions were accepted.

 Resolution 3 deals with Strengthening Employment Equity and comes from the CFUW Nelson District. The Resolution was accepted.

 Resolution 4 deals with Tightening Bail Laws to Protect Victims of Intimate Partner Violence and comes from the university Women’s Club of North York. The Resolution was accepted.

 Resolution 5 deals with Violence Against Women in Politics and comes from CFUW Oakville.  The Resolution was accepted.

 Resolution 6 says A Clean Healthy & Sustainable Environment is a Human Right and it comes from CFUW Headwaters.

April 27, 2022

We were very glad to welcome Dr. Donald Fay as our April speaker because we had spent the year without success trying to get a speaker on the difficult topic of the Opioid Crisis.  Dr.  Fay has been in family practice for 20 years caring for patients with addictions.

 Dr. Fay said that addictions have been around for hundreds of years, are very complex, and cause severe problems. According to the American Society of Addiction medicine, an addiction is a treatable chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and an individual’s life experiences. People with addictions use substances or engage in behaviors that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful consequences. Dr. Fay discussed the why, when, and where of addictions as well as the supply and demand question. Methadone and Buprenorphine/naloxone are two modern game changers responsible for saving many lives today. Vending machines for safe supply, supervised injection sites, and safe access to drugs of choice are helpful in treatment. Self-managed Recovery Programs are critical in aiding addicts. Dr. Fay believes that making a 511 Help Line available would be invaluable, and he urged CFUW members to take the initiative and lobby for this cause in some way.

Lorraine Baxter

President

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President's Message September 2021

Welcome back Everone!  Here we are all set for another exciting year of CFUW.  Remember to exciting project in which we participated with the Ottawa Club -- the Walk to Kabul -- in spite of the pandemic?  Sadly, we are still in the same situation  as we were last year at this time, but we must be enthusiastic  about new beginnings.  In the Spring, the Executive was hopeful about a change in the COVID situation, so we booked our return to the Local Council of Women House eagerly anticipating  a reunion with our friends in the Fall, but now we find we must go back to Zoom still hoping  for better times.  Fortunately, we have all advanced in our tech skills, and our meetings are well attended, and we enjoy being together.  Our first meeting in September will be a virtual tea party.  Let's have fun.  How about inviting a friend to your house to join us on Zoom and maybe become a new member?

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President's Annual Report 2020/21

This has been a very unusual year for CFUW Halifax because of Covid 19, but it has brought new learning experiences for our group. Having missed two meetings in March and April, we came together for our first Zoom meeting hosted by Margaret Therrien on May 27, 2020. One advantage of the virtual meeting was that we were able to host the Nova Scotia Regional Director, Eleanor Palmer, from Wolfville as well as an excellent attendance of 22 members. This was an important achievement because we were able to discuss and vote on items from National in preparation for the National AGM in June.

On August 26, 2020 the Executive met on Zoom to plan the new programme for the coming year and discovered with great joy the huge advantage of virtual meetings in bringing in speakers from afar. With great excitement we anticipated our speakers from Edinburgh, Toronto, and Montreal in the coming year!

On September 23, we held our second Zoom meeting and were delighted by Margaret Therrien’s sharing of “The History of CFUW Halifax” which she has been studying and compiling from her research in the Provincial Archives.  Our club began on May 5, 1936 at the Halifax Ladies College and members were charged $1/year as a scholarship fee. Important issues were addressed during the war years including donations of clothing.  By 1950 there were 104 members, and by 1954 the scholarship had risen to $500. The Club gave donations to the Canadian Cancer Society, Meals on Wheels, The IWK, and Bryony House. CFUW Halifax has a very distinguished history!

On October 28, we welcomed our speaker Andria Hill-Lehr, whom we had expected to join us from Edinburgh, but she had just arrived back in the Annapolis Valley in time to speak to us about her wonderful book Mona Parsons. Our two Book Exchange Groups are very familiar with Andria’s work. Mona Parsons grew up in Wolfville, graduated from Acadia, joined the Ziegfeld Follies, obtained her Nursing degree in Jersey City, met a wealthy man from the Netherlands in New York, married him, and moved to Amsterdam. During the War, she ended up in a German penitentiary for hiding allied airmen, but that and her escape and walk across Germany make for quite a tale. She died in Halifax, is buried in Wolfville, and is commemorated by a statue in Wolfville.

On November 25, 21 members were fortunate to hear the CEO of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Nancy Noble, speak about the chosen design for the new AGNS. Nancy said that the design is a “museum director’s dream come true.” It embraces the traditions of the past with a contemporary view. It is reflective of diversity and challenges people to explore the space. The building is in the shape of an eel with entrances on both Lower Water Street and the waterfront.  Its vision is for a “Gallery and Art District” which allows people to come together. The feeling is that the Gallery also has a bold future as a leader in Canadian contemporary art.  Members who have long associations with the AGNS as visitors and docents were especially happy to hear this talk.

On January 27, 2021 we held our fifth meeting on Zoom and we welcomed Jennifer Gunn from Toronto to speak about Environmental Trends in the Clothing Industry.  Elaine Gunn, mother of the speaker, introduced her daughter who has an MA in environmental sustainability from the University of Waterloo.  Jennifer works with the TJX Company, the parent company of Winners, Marshalls, and HomeSense. Their aim is to be in the middle of the pack with their environmental initiatives. Jennifer gave us some shocking statistics to begin with. For example, “fashion is the second most-polluting industry after oil” and “it takes about 7500 litres of water to make 1 pair of jeans!” In Canada, 4% of our landfills are taken up with clothing, but in Nova Scotia, it is 9-12%. There is, however, some hope on the horizon. The next generation of consumers, who are now 12 to 24 years of age, have a greater knowledge of the environment and suffer from “eco-anxiety.” Clothing donation programs are a hopeful sign, and some companies such as H&M collect tonnes of garments at their facilities for recycling. Jennifer answered many questions about this very timely topic for us to share with our families and friends.

On February 24, 2021 we explored one of CFUW’s topics of national interest—Long Term Care—with Dr Janice Keefe from Mount Saint Vincent University. Dr Keefe is the Director of the Nova Scotia Centre on Aging. The Centre works to advance knowledge about aging and quality of life. They are working to increase the voice of residents, families, and workers. Three themes have been identified for long-term care: 1) the system needs to adapt to the complex needs of residents 2) the pay level for workers is low and is not an attractive option for work 3) the system of accountability is fragmented. Specialists are needed such as physiotherapists and recreation specialists. The Long Term Care sector is largely composed of women who are not in policy making positions. There is also a need for the development of national standards. Our speaker from the Mount gave us much useful information of particular interest to our Issues Group.

On March 31, 2021 our speaker was our own Margaret Therrien who had visited New York virtually to attend the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) Meeting. This committee is a part of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Margaret’s power point presentation gave us a virtual tour of the conference.  The development of global policy to forward gender equality is the main function of UNCSW. Margaret said there were 2 key themes of the Conference. The Priority Theme: “Women’s full and effective participation and decision making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. The Review Theme: “Women’s empowerment and the link to sustainable development”. There was a mock trial which looked at the 2 sides of e-learning, and a CFUW session on “Mobilizing for Impact.” In one group of sessions, Margaret was able to attend 22 out of 700, and in another group of 150 she attended 16!  It sounds like a totally exhausting programme, and we are very grateful to Margaret for attending and bringing back so much information.

On April 28, 2021 we were honored to have Dr Alayne Adams, daughter of Janet Adams, speak to us about her “Career in Global Health: listening, learning, and sharing, globally and locally. Alayne spoke to us from Montreal and was introduced by her mother, Janet.  Alayne’s aunt from Calgary was present also.  Alayne began her studies at Mount Allison, graduated from McGill, received her MSc in Tropical Hygiene and PhD in Public Health from the London School of Tropical Medicine, and did post-doctoral studies at Harvard. She is now the Population Health Director for the Department of Family Medicine at McGill. Alayne talked about her work in Mali where she was the Executive Director of the Joint Learning Initiative on Children and HIV/Aids based in Geneva. She was focused on how to move theory into action. She then moved to Bangladesh to work on a project with an international population health research centre. She studied Strategies for reforms in delivery of health care to the urban poor in Dhaka. The intent was to inform the decision-makers by creating an “urban health atlas”.  She described some of the proposed solutions.  Alayne is now back in Canada and looking at the distribution of our foreign-born population, and the transformation of our country. She pointed out how COVID has exposed many issues. These problems need to be solved by strategic and evidence-based research. She is working on innovative ways to enhance primary care by engaging community resources. With all her experience in foreign countries, we can count on Alayne to do a good job back in Canada.

On May 26, 2021 we hope to hear Councillor Waye Mason speak to us about Affordable Housing in HRM. This is a topic of great interest to the Issues Committee, so we look forward to our last meeting of this year. Following that, of course, we will wind up with the AGM in June which will be available to all without leaving our homes or our computers. All in all, a pretty impressive year in spite of the COVID pandemic!