Join us for the Next monthly Meeting on May 10th Dianne Gillespie
A look at the Lost Women of BC
Previous presentation recordings are available on our YouTube Channel here: Click Here
The members of CFUW Parksville Qualicum acknowledge with respect the ancestral, traditional Aboriginal territories of the Coast Salish on whose territory we live, meet and learn. CFUW PQ members are Oceanside women committed to and actively promoting equality, education and opportunities for women and girls locally, nationally and internationally. Initiated in 1981, we invite you to come and meet us in an open atmosphere of advocacy, learning and friendship. Please check out our monthly meetings, special events, committees, interest groups and book clubs. A wide range of topics is considered together with social activities that make our advocacy work connected and enjoyable. Our annual Book Sale fundraiser is held in October each year and began in 1985. Funds raised goes toward projects and Scholarships and Bursaries for local girls and women.
Founded in 1981, CFUW PQ is an active member of CFUW National, joining with more than 100 other local clubs and their more than 8,000 individual members to advocate for girls and women. Through CFUW National founded in 1919, we maintain active liaison with the Federal Government of Canada, with the United Nations, and with Graduate Women International (GWI), which represents thousands of women around the world. With our local partners, we advocate for issues such as poverty reduction and access to affordable early childhood education. And with our members, we celebrate successes, work to meet challenges and maintain a spirit of friendship, collegiality and enjoyment.
History
We celebrated 100 years as a national organization during 2019!
The national organization, CFUW, was founded in 1919. In a few large cities, however, clubs had already been formed. Vancouver University Women’s Club began in 1907, the first such west of Toronto. (The Victoria Club began in 1908 and the Winnipeg Club in 1909.)
Most of the first members of the Club had attended universities in the east. In a province still without a university, one of their foremost concerns was to be active in public service, especially with regard to education. When the University of British Columbia was established by an act of the legislature the next year, 1908, it became a “sort of godchild of the Vancouver Club.” As evidence of the Club’s interest in UBC, within the first few years, Mrs Farris [Evlyn Farris, first president of the Vancouver Club] was appointed to both the University Senate and the Board of Governors; in each case, she was the first woman.
Over the years the Vancouver University Women’s Club thrived. In the 60’s one of its most active members was Dolly Kennedy. She used to spend her summers in the “big house” in Columbia Beach, and therein lies a link to the Parksville Qualicum Club.
In Nanaimo, a University Women’s Club had formed in 1945. Four women from up-island in the Parksville-Qualicum area had joined the Club. They were Connie Beaton, Valentine Urie, Grace D’Arcy and Dianne Spearing.
A glimpse of 100 years of accomplishments within CFUW:
● 1919, August 26: Inaugural meeting of the “Federation of University Women in Canada”
○ On August 26, 1919, University Women’s Clubs from Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Edmonton and Victoria met in Winnipeg for the inaugural meeting of the “Federation of University Women in Canada.” Plans were begun for a scholarship, a publication called the Chronicle, and surveys on education and vocations. The travelling scholarship was meant as an equivalent to the Rhodes Scholarships, for which women were ineligible, to be financed through lecture series or tours. Public work was to be encouraged, and women of suitable talents should be encouraged to run for school board or university governing bodies. The CFUW brought together women who were of the belief that they were privileged to have been educated, and determined to use their education in the service of society rather than for their own self-gain. In doing so, they hoped to prove that women were the equals of men.
● 1920: Equal Pay for Equal Work
○ At the First CFUW Triennial, an education report done by Geneva Misener of the Edmonton University Women’s Club was presented encouraging women to enter the teaching profession with“ an adequate salary schedule” including the principle of Equal Pay for Equal Work! As well Elsinore Macpherson reported on a survey of vocations of university women in Canada.
● 1934: Legal and Economic Status of Women Committee
○ CFUW established the Legal and Economic Status of Women Committee to co-operate with the International Federation of University Women (IFUW) and keep clubs informed on questions concerning women’s rights.
● 1946: Reading Stimulation Grant
○ The Reading Stimulation Grant was set up, intended for an area poorly supplied with books with the hopes to stimulate children’s reading skills.
● 1947: Committee on Penal Reform
○ The Committee on Penal Reform was established and presented briefs over the twenty years of its existence. The committee also supported work done by the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS), an organization that addresses issues affecting women and girls in the justice system.
● 1967: Royal Commission on the Status of Women
○ CFUW’s president, Laura Sabia and a group of Canadian women’s organizations put pressure on Lester B. Pearson’s government to create the Royal Commission on the Status of Women.
● 1976: CFUW Charitable Trust
○ The CFUW Charitable Trust was established to receive donations to fund the CFUW fellowships.
● 1996: Gun Control Efforts
○ CFUW is represented along with other women’s groups in a nationally televised Press Conference on gun control. CFUW works with the Coalition for Gun Control and Firearms Control Centre.
● 1998: Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations
○ Motivated by attendance at the Beijing Conference, CFUW applies and receives consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations. This consultative status allows access by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to all UN bodies that are open to NGOs. This includes the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
● 2006 CFUW joins The Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights
○ The coalition comprised 28 women’s groups, unions and human rights organizations, is formed in response to federal funding cuts to Status of Women, defunding of the Court Challenges Program and the abandonment of the Universal Child Care plan.
● 2016: Studies Published
○ Two studies were undertaken:
■ Women in Universities, A Comparative Study – 25 Years Later, chaired by Margaret Therrien, a member of the original team.
■ Sexual Assault on Campus, chaired by Pam Love and Dr Sharon Crabb of the Status of Women sub-Committee
Purpose of CFUW Parksville Qualicum club
- To promote understanding, friendship and cooperation among members and with like-minded organizations.
- To support excellence in education and to promote access to education and lifelong learning for women and girls.
- To advance the status of women, human rights and gender equality.
- To stimulate the interest of members in community issues; to encourage active participation in such affairs by women, and to provide an opportunity for effective, concerted action.
- To participate in the work of CFUW, CFUW BC Council and Graduate Women International (GWI)
Leadership Committee 2020-2021 CFUW Parksville Qualicum
To contact the CFUW PQ Leadership Committee please go to the contact page
Leadership Officers
President: Val Gunn
Treasurer: Bonnie Stableford
Secretary-General Meetings: Catherine Khan
Secretary Executive meetings: Lorna Miller
Membership Coordinator: Wendy Reimer
CFUW PQ Scholarship & Bursary Trust
Chairperson: Noreen Ballantyne
Club Committees
Advocacy: Betty Price, Sherri Plummer, Debbie Wetmore
Resolutions: Sheila Reed
Governance:
Global Outreach: Catherine Khan & Wendy Reimer
Book Sale Coordinators: Book Sale Committee
Communications:
Publicity:
Newsletter: Barbara Bond
Web & Social Media Manager: Victoria Morris
Historians & Archives: Noreen Ballantyne & Maggie Hawes
Program: Val Gunn
International Women’s Day: Sonya Felix
Out ‘n’ About: Vivien Sears
Nominations:
Dinner Meetings: Xmas; June: Vivien Sears
Sunshine: Camille Lawson