CFUW encourages members to use their expertise to bring about change. The Club’s current national priorities focus on violence against women and girls, Indigenous peoples’ rights, early learning and childcare, long term care, and climate change.

A CFUW Resolution is a formal motion proposing positive change in a current issue of provincial, national and/or international importance. If supported by CFUW clubs across Canada, the proposed resolution becomes CFUW policy and provides direction for advocacy, serves to educate the membership, and increases CFUW’s visibility as a leading Canadian women’s organization.

Resolution Process
CFUW Clubs can research and propose resolutions. These are shared with other clubs that review all the resolutions proposed each year and suggest amendments or revisions. The finalized resolutions are then voted on at the club’s AGM. A similar process occurs at the provincial council level. CFUW national develops policies and advocacy kits for approved resolutions which local clubs can use to promote the resolutions with relevant government and civil society organizations.

 

Perth and District Proposed Resolution 2022

We are working on a resolution for “Fair Treatment for Canadians Suffering from Chronic Lyme Disease and Other Tick-Borne Diseases.”  Currently Chronic Lyme Disease is not recognized as an official disease in Canada and patients are denied treatment by publicly funded health care systems, making this a human rights issue, as individuals are discriminated against based on their disease. This issue is of particular interest to CFUW because women are disproportionately impacted by Lyme+. By contrast, many European countries and the World Health Organization do recognize the condition, and over 300 peer-reviewed science publications support the existence of chronic infection and its debilitating effects.

 

Currently, Canadians are forced to pay tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket for treatment at private clinics in Canada, the United States, or elsewhere to receive treatment, and those who cannot afford private treatment often become so debilitated that they cannot work and yet they cannot receive disability benefits because chronic Lyme+ is not recognized as an official disease. As a result of chronic suffering and lack of access to effective or affordable treatment, the suicide rate amongst those suffering from chronic Lyme+ is 75% higher than the general population.

 

The full resolution documentation is available in the Members Only section.