Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women

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PACSW Celebrates 20^th Anniversary Women's Conference 2000 Exploring Common Ground On Thanksgiving weekend over 430 women converged on Gander to dialogue, celebrate and mobilize. These women came from more than seventy-five different communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador and more than sixty of the participants came from Labrador communities and regions. A review of 300 evaluations shows an overwhelming endorsement of the conference. Some of you felt that the panels, which featured women (many of whom were speaking for the first time) speaking about their lives and communities as providing a connection to your lives. Others enjoyed women talking about leadership and the values and style of women's leadership. Many noted the address of the Status of Women Minister as the first experience they had whereby a politician talked about politics in the context of her total life. Still others admired the strength, conviction and analysis in the words of our conference keynote speaker, Judy Rebick. Yet, for many it was the very simple things that mattered. The comfortable roundtable discussions allowing every woman to be validated. The delicious molasses buns and bakeapple squares baked by Alma Russell of Gander. The Bread and Roses Program on Sunday morning with it's humble spirituality and powerful message. The bus drivers from Burin and Conne River who jumped in to provide transportation on these two rainy days. And we will not soon forget that tangled clothes line carried through the streets of Gander with more than 100 t-shirts with political messages calling for an end to poverty and violence. The Provincial Women's Conference and the Provincial World March were best summed up by an Inuit woman who told the audience that this conference weekend was the first time she had felt a part of Newfoundland and the young woman who committed herself to continued involvement on equality and social justice in her hometown. If there was any doubt that there was a women's movement alive and well in the province, one only had to be present on Thanksgiving weekend in Gander. This women's conference was a first for many of the women and they returned home feeling energized, mobilized and richer for having spent a holiday weekend in the "company of women" Provincial Women's Conference 2000 Organizers Link to Conference Recommendations
Suite 103 15 Hallett Cres. St. John's, NL Canada A1B 4C4 Tel: 709.753.7270 Fax: 709.753.2606 info@pacsw.ca www.pacsw.ca	Copyright © 2007 Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women Newfoundland & Labrador. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. :: Privacy Policy :: Problems with this document? Please Contact Us