January 18, 2021

Memo to All of our Manitoba Presidents:

Greetings to each one of you, and to all of our Manitoba members!

I wish to offer clarification on the instructed votes required by National Council.

First of all, I am advised that it is the responsibility of all of our Presidents to ensure that all of their Council members who wish to vote, have the ability to do so, as well as to be able to debate such motions.  This vote is required to be forwarded to your next level (Diocesan) on or before the required date established by that Executive; typically 4 weeks before their AGM is to take place.  In order to ensure that ALL members have the opportunity to have their vote recorded, you may have to be creative.  This might include a combination of in-person (if permitted by the Province of Manitoba by then), virtual, by mail, email, or telephone.  It is imperative to reach out to all of your membership, as National is adamant that they do not wish to receive ANY phone calls or emails saying that they would have liked to vote, but their Council did not take the necessary measures to enable them to do so.

Instructed Vote re changes to Policy & Procedure and Constitution & Bylaws:  There are some 9 proposals contained in this vote.  While it is intimidating, and even overwhelming, if you take the time to read the subject matter, you will quickly see that National is laying the groundwork to enable the implementation of the Strategic Planning.  Much time and effort has been expended to date, along with countless hours, and this will ensure the future of the League into the next 100 years.  At the same time, they are ensuring that to be hampered in carrying out our normal business due to unforeseen circumstances (such as a pandemic) will never happen again; therefore they are creating the opportunity to make binding decisions at virtual meetings.

Instructed Vote re change from Our Lady of Good Counsel to Our Lady of Guadalupe:  It has been proposed that since the CWL is undergoing a complete rebranding and sweeping changes which will take us into the next 100 years, of which part of that is to reach out to new and younger members as well as our immigrant population, that it would be an opportune time to also consider changing our patroness to Our Lady of Guadalupe.  The arguments for this are that Our Lady of Guadalupe is much better known; Pope Francis has proclaimed her as patroness of the America’s, and this would support our goal to reach out to immigrant women.  Our Lady of Good Counsel has served us well for the past 100 years, and perhaps it is time to move on?  Finally, Our Lady takes on many forms; Our Lady of Good Counsel, Our Lady of Knock, Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady Undoer of Knots, and the list goes on and on.  The patroness of the CWL will still be Our Lady, and that won’t change.  It is up to our grassroots members to determine if they will embrace this proposal…or not.

Instructed Vote re increase in National per capita fees from $13.00 to $25.00: When National first rolled out the proposed Strategic Plan, I was present, as were many of you, and I enthusiastically supported the plan.  Many wanted to implement the reduced number of Standing Committee Chairs immediately, but we were told we had to wait.  Following much legwork and a staggering number of hours expended, we are now seeing the results.  For all of this, National is facing a huge deficit budget.  We examined the budget at the National table, and debated it for hours and days.  I can share with you that National has done an incredible job in containing the costs.  They have made every effort to utilize resources from within.  However, volunteers willing to work full-time at no pay, are few and far between.  At the same time, they’ve had printing costs, I.T. and technology costs, and some consulting costs (although not a lot).  They’ve also had to re-assign staff in their office to the Strategic Plan initiative, while still maintaining their normal duties.  It’s really no wonder that they’ve incurred this deficit.  As mentioned, we debated this issue at great length, and National Executive asked us Provincial Presidents if the whole project should be stopped/shelved/put on hold.  Following exhaustive discussions, we determined that collectively there has been a great deal of effort invested thus far, we have the momentum to keep it going, and it would serve no purpose to stop now, as it would take a monumental effort to start up again sometime in the future.  Therefore, we felt we had to keep going.  Further, in regards to the per capita increase, we pointed out that we’re in the middle of a pandemic, and timing is terrible.  In response, National presented an analysis of the costs of a) proceeding; b) delaying by 6 months; and c) delaying by 1 year.  The costs of delaying are huge.  National pointed out that it’s been 10 years since the last increase, and cost increases in every area do not stop escalating.  One of the Provincial Presidents broke it down by saying that the increase is representative of $1.00 per month, and that’s true.  It’s also true that combined with the Provincial and Diocesan per capita fees, all of us will see a substantial jump in our annual membership fees.  Personally, I feel that I will pay it, for the privilege of belonging to this incredible national sisterhood.

My final word to those Councils who are struggling or may be considering disbanding:  The CWL is much more than just a club.  It is a tightly knit network of sisters who genuinely care about you.  You might ask what you’re getting out of the CWL other than just a magazine.  My response to that would be that it tells me you are not tapping into the resources, and are not attending conventions or CWL events (actually, none of us have been able to do that in 2020).  In order to appreciate the benefits of belonging, you need to sometimes do something for YOU, and that means participating in the spirituality offered at conventions, Provincial Council Day of Celebration, Winnipeg Diocesan Fall Meeting & Workshop, and St. Boniface Diocesan Council Day of Reflection.  Yes, I agree that in our busy lives, it is a commitment to take a whole day (or two) away from our must-do list, but I have learned that I get so much more out of these days than I can possibly convey.  These days have provided me with the opportunity to rejuvenate and refresh.  While your absence to you might not seem very much, the implications of your action will reach to the very edge of the pond.  You may think that you’re only one person, or one Council, but believe me, your absence is noticed, and very much missed. 

The CWL is pro-life, from conception to natural death.  Collectively, we have written tens of thousands of letters to our government, speaking against euthanasia and assisted suicide.  Our seniors matter, and should never be made to feel as though they’re a burden to society.

If you see an inequity or injustice in our society today, you have the opportunity to bring it to the attention of our elected officials through our resolutions process.  All of our resolutions are created and presented at the grassroots level, before being moved up to Diocesan, Provincial, and finally National levels.  The CWL is a very powerful voice in Government circles, and it’s absolutely critical that we are able to maintain that respect.  Your membership enables us to do that.

When was the last time you checked out the Provincial or National websites?  They contain a wealth of information that perhaps you didn’t know about – we encourage you to do that at your earliest convenience!

Our Day of Celebration is coming up in early February, and we plan to have an exciting speaker bring us a virtual presentation designed to enrich us spiritually.  It will be an excellent event, and we encourage you to participate!

Finally, if you have questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your Diocesan Presidents; they’d be happy to hear from you.  I, also, am always happy to hear from our members – each of you are special to me!

May Our Lady of Good Counsel be always at your side.

Janet Brunger

Manitoba Provincial President

204-791-2843

At our recent Webinar meeting, a decision by the National Office has deferred the following instructed votes to 2022. They are as follows:
Our Lady of Good Counsel
Per Capita increase
Changes to P & P

To confirm, our AGM meeting will be replacing our 2021 Convention.
Meeting to be held at Mary Mother of the Church on May 29, 2021.
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Elections are to proceed.

***Don't forget it is up to YOU to pass on any CWL information if you have a "buddy" to communicate with.  For example, I have two.  

"Prayer is, as it were, being alone with God. A soul prays only when it is turned toward God, and for so long as it remains so. As soon as it turns away, it stops praying. The preparation for prayer is thus the movement of turning to God and away from all that is not God. That is why we are so right when we define prayer as this movement. Prayer is essentially a 'raising up', an elevation. We begin to pray when we detach ourselves from created objects and raise ourselves up to the Creator."
— Dom Augustin Guillerand, p. 91

I think the pandemic has given us ample time to be alone with God.  Is your faith stronger or weaker now?

What is serenity?  it is a state of being calm, peaceful,and untroubled  Achieving this positive state of mind means you won't feel as trouled by life's ups and downs.  It helyou be true to yourself.  This photo of a ski trail in Pinawa taken last meet was my serenity place!