I was fortunate to attend the recent BC/Yukon Provincial Convention (June 19-21, 2025) in Kelowna. Before I say anything more, I have to tell you I had so much fun. I met up with old friends and made new ones, helped in a skit “roasting” Past President Catherine L’Heureux, went to a beach party and invited everyone to the next Provincial Convention here. in Sidney hosted by us, the Diocese of Victoria.
This convention modelled the perfect CWL meeting. That is, one third of the time took care of business, one third all things spiritual and finally, the last third had guest speakers. In respect to business, although we did not win the best increase in membership contest, we did really well. We raised the overall 2025 membership of our own Diocese from 935 in 2024 to 971. Our Province gained 282 new members. I am so proud of everyone.
Of course the usual diocesan and standing committees’ reports were read out and Elections held. Of note, we voted to send a resolution to the National Convention for adoption. The name of this resolution says it all: “2025.01 Enforce Existing Terrorism Laws when Prosecuting Arson Attempts on Places of Worship”. We can get really serious when warranted.
On a more positive note, I am pleased to announce that Christa Grillmair was elected Provincial President and Laurel Phyall Provincial Secretary. Well done, sisters!
The spiritual portion of our convention was strong with the opening and closing masses, Provincial Spiritual Advisor John Garden’s talk “Pilgrims of Hope”, Father Sean Wenger’s “Those who hear, share it: the Gospel of Power” and our annual Deceased Members Ceremony.
Soon to be National President Betty Collaneri (who spoke to us at our Diocesan Convention in Courtenay) delivered a talk on the “R3 to 1 Unity”. I hope this talk will be presented to our councils in 2025/2026 so I’ll say nothing more about this.
We had three other speakers present talks about active aging; namely, eat the right food, keep active and how to dress well and not blow the budget. I would like to think that I know good food and do exercise regularly. Looking good may be a matter of opinion. However, I learned a lot of new things including what is fashionable but inexpensive. You decide if I succeeded in this.
In closing, I want to repeat that our Diocese is hosting the next Provincial Convention in Sidney June 18-20, 2026. I hope to see everyone there and let’s have some fun!
Gerry Heywood
President: Diocese of Victoria
