Catholic Women's League of Canada

Report on the 97th Annual Provincial Convention

                         Kamloops, June 20-22, 2024

I can't help thinking a beautiful mass is such a good way to begin a convention. The executive had already met for the President's dinner and short meeting the night before the pre-convention meeting, so with that business out of the way, it was time for the first day of the Convention.

The convention began with the business session including Provincial President Catherine L'Heureux's report followed by the Diocesan President's reports. I shared what had been done in our Victoria Diocese and what is being planned. The deceased member's ceremony was very moving, as always. I felt emotional reading out the names of members we had lost over the last year. The ceremony was followed by a Multi Cultural Rosary said in many different languages led by Faith Chairperson Victoria Oppertshauser.

Standing Committee Reports were given by Vice President, Secretary,Treasurer and Past President Sharon Geiger. Later, more Committee Reports were given, Faith, Service and then Social Justice Chair Angelina Siglich introduced the resolution “Grant the CORE (Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise) Legal Authority to Act Upon Environmental Human Rights Abuses” The motion passed.

National President Shari Guinta spoke on the 3 Core Values, Faith, Service and Social Justice. We need to work as a team collaborating between Chairs and their committees. She encouraged League Development and spoke on the focus of Mental Health.

Our first speaker, Father John Gardin, Provincial Spiritual Advisor's  presentation began with the word joy and the meaning of joy given to us from some of the saints. It is sometimes difficult to be in a state of joy because of pain and or anxiety. He spoke on anxiety, it's symptoms and ways to cope with management techniques. Father John passed on the address of the website: anxietycanada.ca (where people can go to find out more about anxiety). Father concluded his presentation the following day and ended ended his talk with the song “I've got a joy, joy, joy , joy down in my heart.

The first day closed with a Cowboy Teamed Banquet with good food and Karaoke singing and dancing. I donned my cowboy hat and before I knew it I was tapping my feet and even sang a few karaoke songs. I truly had a joy, joy ,joy, joy down in my heart. Yah-hooh!

The next day Lynne Langley presented on Celebrating and Welcoming Immigrants it was a way to ask the questions, why do people immigrate, who benefits from it, and how can we help welcome new Canadians to our country and our councils?

Some of the Executive wore their own heritage clothing. First Nations, Metis and others wearing clothing from different countries. Those from other countries briefly described their families reasons for immigrating. As a Metis person I chose to talk about my French Acadian ancestor whose family later settled in Montreal, where he became a voyager travelling with the fur trade to River River Settlement (present day Winnipeg) and married a First Nation Cree Woman. Of course, I wore my moccasins, my ribbon skirt, my orange t-shirt and my mini metis sash. Lynne directed us to a resource on the National Website under “Promotion” called “Embrace Diversity”.

Our last speaker was Dr. Gerry Turcotte on Social Justice. He spoke about commitment to serve. We learn from volunteering. The experiences we have make us stronger. Social Justice puts Faith into action. His info. package included his book “The Sum of All Things”.

The closing mass was celebrated and the day ended with a Banquet. Thank you Provincial Council for supporting my attendance  at this wonderful convention.

Respectfully submitted: Bertha Landrie

Victoria Diocesan President