The following is being distributed at the request of the Provincial Women's Conference Organizing Committee:

Provincial women's conference starts Friday

The Annual Provincial Women's Conference will take place in St. John's, October 18-20, at the Battery Hotel. The conference will also include a lobby of provincial politicians on the Monday following the conference.

The theme of the conference is Women for a Caring Society. The conference program will feature workshops and lobby sessions.

Topics for discussion include women and poverty, using the Internet, media relations, feminist management, violence against women, child centred policies, women's health, lesbian issues, and francophone concerns.

After the workshops on Sunday, the lobby committee will be presenting a lobby strategy session in anticipation of Monday's lobby of provincial politicians.

Media representatives are invited to attend the opening of the conference on Friday, October 18 at 7:30 p.m., Battery Hotel. The media are also welcome to attend the plenary sessions on Saturday October 19, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., and the post lobby news conference on Monday October 21, at the Confederation Building.

More than a dozen local groups are involved in organizing the conference which will begin on October 18, Person's Day.

If you would like to know more about the conference, please contact Angela Drake, St. John's, (709) 753-7314. If you would like to know more about the lobby, please contact Joyce Hancock at (709) 753-6124.

BACKGROUND
Pre-conference Workshops and Activities

1. Women's Health Network
   Location: Former Grace General Hospital School of Nursing
   3rd Floor Meeting Room A
   LeMarchant Road

   Time: 1:00 - 5:00 p.m.

   Agenda: History of the Network
   Provincial Update
   Canadian Women's Health Network
   Future Projects
   Making the network provincial

2. Newfoundland Amazon Network, Lesbian and Bi-Sexual Caucus
   Location: Battery Hotel
   Time: 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.

   This will be a facilitated session.

   a) discuss the reality of living as lesbians and bi-sexuals in Newfoundland and Labrador
   b) prepare for the Saturday lobbying session on Human Rights and Lesbians

3. Demystifying Parole
   Location: Battery Hotel
   Time: 4:00 - 5:00 p.m.

   To explain the parole process and how one can participate in it. Two community liason officers with the National Parole Board will be available to answer questions.

4. Morgentaler Clinic Open House
   Time: 4:00 p.m.

   Please call 754-3572 by 3:30 p.m. on Friday October 18, 1996 to advise if you plan to attend.

Conference Opening Friday, October 18, 1996

Susan Fowlow
Frances Laracy Winner of Person's Award
Anita Best Musician
Kathleen Knowling Visual Artist
Bernice Morgan Writer

Lobby Session (One) Saturday, October 19, 1996 9:00 a.m.

1.  
2. Poverty and Social Services
   Look at the experience/reality of women living on fixed incomes, and the impact of current cutbacks.

   F Jane Robinson F Sheila Hynes R Bev Brown R Gail Howell R Sharon Whalen

3. Voisey's Bay
   Look at the concerns of Inuit and Innu women re: the development at Voisey's Bay, and what kind of strategies may be useful to deal with these concerns.

   F Barbara Neis R Katie Riche R Alice Pilgrim

4. Women's Health
   Inform participants about current issues in women's health, to identify areas of concern for lobbying and to empower women in taking control of their own health care concerns.

   F Wendy Williams R Joy Madigan R Elaine Price

5. Education and Training
   Look at barriers facing women in post secondary education and training, including women's experience of violence and issues concerning non-traditional trades as an occupational choice for women.

   F Francis Ennis R Brenda Grzetic R CCLOW

6. Goverment Promises
   The goal of the session is to review the Liberal policy manual as released during the election and the government's performance to date.

   F Alice Collins R Sue Skipton R Yvonne Jones

7. Government Anti-Violence Strategy
   The goal of the session is to look at how the Provincial Strategy on Violence is working and what concerns need to be addressed.

   F Phyllis Seymour R Mary Somerton R Jennifer Mercer

8. Francophone Women (one)
   Discuss the concerns of francophone women throughout the province, and how to integrate these concerns into the broader women's community.

Lobby Session (Two) Saturday, October 19, 1996, 2:00 p.m.

1. Human Rights and Lesbians
   The provincial government is proposing to change the Human Rights Legislation to include sexual orientation. Discuss how this will affect us and more importantly how we want this to affect us.
2. Women and Fishery Future
   Inform about the issues facing women displaced by the cod moratorium, identify areas for future lobbying, particularly relating to education and training, and to discuss concerns related to what will happen when the TAGS program ends.

   F Patricia Betts R Susan Williams

3. Zonal Boards
   Look at what we can do to strengthen women's participation on the economic zonal boards, and identify women's concerns for community economic development.

   F Agnes Pike R Carolyn Lavers R Cindy Penney

4. Strategic Social Planning Consultation
   The goal of the session is to provide information about the process of strategic social planning, and how women can participate in the consultation.

   F Joyce Hancock R Brenda Fitzgerald R Cheryl Hebert

5. Child-focused Policies
   Examine the recent report of the Select Committee on Children's Issues and consider specific concerns re: daycare support and child welfare policy.

   F Leslie Bella R Kathleen Kufeldt R Arlene Rich R Patt Cowan

6. Francophone Women(two)

Banquet and Entertainment

Workshops (One) Sunday, October 20, 1996, 9:00 a.m

1. Self Healing
   Learning to listen to your body as a source of knowledge on healing.

   Wendy Williams

2. Proposal Writing
   Identify types of funders, the information they need from applicants, and some steps to take in preparing a funding proposal.

   Helen Woodrow

3. Using the Internet (intro) Overview of the Internet, how to use electronic mail, newsgroups, and listservers.

   Fiona MacGregor

4. Media Relations
   Learn about devloping a contact list, organizing a news conference, writing a news release, and participating in a media interview. Discuss the importance of media coverage in promoting our community work and how to best use the media sources we have available in our communities.

   Martha Muzychka

5. Conflict Resolution or Resolving Conflict without Hurting Anybody or Becoming a Doormat Look at the styles we have learned for dealing with conflict and how we can change them if they are not working for us.

   Jennifer Mercer

6. Fundraising
   Overview of the most common methods employed when raising funds, the difference between fund raising and fund development, and some practical application.

   Catherine French

7. Working with Youth
   Discuss the barriers young women face in working on social justice issues, identify how we can work together.

   Diana Haynes

Workshops (two) Sunday, October 20, 1996, 11:00 a.m.

1. Media Literacy
   Examine issues around the representation of women and girls in the media; develop new and existing skills to recognize and critically analyze sexism in the media.

   Helene Davis Nancy Robbins

2. Using the Internet (advanced) Overview of the World Wide Web, searching and creating home pages.

   Fiona MacGregor

3. Feminist Management
   Examine how we can operate in a management structure from a feminist perspective, and how we can get rid of these structures and still maintain accountability.

   Kay Anonsen

4. Starting a Woman's Group
   Examination of issues involved when women begin to heed the call to activism. Look at feminist process, consensus building, linear decision working and strategies for surviving as equality seeking groups.

   Joyce Hancock
   Susan Hollett

5. Using Humour
   Often as feminists we find ourselves in worl places, social situations, volunteer groups, etc., which are non-affirming. Many of us have been able to use humour as a means of coping with these situations or as a tactic to encourage rethinking/reshaping of attitudes in a non-threatening way. This participatory workshop will focus on developing a sense of humour as a tool for survival.

   Susan Fowlow

6. Anti-racism
   Heigthen our understanding of stereotypes and the links to racism as well as explore the impact of stereotypes in action. Explore "white" privilege and its relationship to racism.

   Karlene Lannon

The Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women
Newfoundland and Labrador
E-mail: pacsw@nlnet.nf.ca
Home page: //www.nlnet.nf.ca/commercial/~pacsw