Wasaga
Beach, ON: Multiple
Births Canada (MBC) is pleased to provide ongoing updates to its members,
chapters and colleagues. Your
commitment to Supporting Multiple Births
Together is of great importance to Canada’s multiple-birth
community.
Chapter
Representatives: Please
forward the information below to your Chapter Executive and
members.
1.
2006
National Conference and Annual General Meeting – May
25-28/06
2.
Business
Office Closed – May 23-28/06
3.
Multiple
Births Canada Rules and Regulations
4.
MBC
Board of Directors/Volunteers Open Positions
5.
Celebrate
National Multiple Births Awareness Day!
6.
2005
EI Survey Results and Response from Minister of
HRSDC
1.
2006
National Conference and Annual General Meeting – May
25-28/06
Multiple Births Canada's Annual
General Meeting is being held on Saturday, May 27th in Chatham, Ontario as part
of the 2006
National Conference “Plowing Thru Parenthood”. This is your opportunity as a
member of MBC to learn more about the organization. Please make sure that any
delegates attending on behalf of your chapter are present at this portion of the
weekend. We hope to continue the trend of recent years, of a short and to the
point business portion, in order to spend more time sharing our excitement about
the current activities and future of MBC. (AGM
Agenda-attached)
Reminder
to delegates: Hospitality Suite and Friday night are
BYOB (alcohol cannot be transported on the bus), and cash bar on Saturday night
(casual/dressy). Friday night is a
pig roast hosted at a local pig farm – country/farmer/casual dress. Also, you
may want to bring your town/city/chapter pins to exchange with the other
delegates. If possible, please
bring a copy or two of your chapter newsletter to display and share with other
chapters.
2.
Business
Office Closed – May 23-28/06
The
Business Office will reopen Monday, May 29th at 10am. Email will be monitored during the
conference. If you must reach a
Board member or Vicki in the Business Office, please email office@multiplebirthscanada.org.
3. Multiple
Births Canada Rules and Regulations
The Rules and Regulations, as called
for and in support of MBC’s bylaws, are the significant rules by which MBC
operates. They are not meant to be a conclusive list, but to identify those of
significance to MBC and its membership. They are revised by the Board of
Directors as need be each year, and submitted for the membership’s confirmation
at each Annual General Meeting. They are included in this Information Circular
(IC) in advance of the AGM for member perusal in anticipation of their
confirmation. There have been no changes to the Rules and Regulations
approved at the 2005 Annual General Meeting.
(Rules
and Regulations-attached)
4. MBC Board of Director/Volunteers
Open Positions
Multiple
Births Canada is pleased to submit its open slate of Board of Director positions
and request for volunteers for the 2006-2007 term. (List of Board Positions and Volunteers
Needed-attached)
All
interested individuals are encouraged to put their name forth if they feel they
may have both the qualifications and the background to be a Board Member with
Multiple Births Canada or fill any of the much needed positions. Names can be
put forth during the Annual General Meeting when nominations from the floor are
called or at any time throughout the weekend and/or the year.
All
MBC volunteers are a true asset to the organization and carry out work that
would not be possible without their generosity and support. Volunteering is a
great way to gain experience and share your knowledge. For further information on volunteering
with MBC, contact the Director of Volunteer Management, Kim Weatherall at
volunteers@multiplebirthscanada.org.
5. Celebrate National Multiple Births
Awareness Day!
Multiple
Births Canada is excited about celebrating the second annual National Multiple
Births Awareness Day. Many chapters
and families across Canada will be celebrating concurrently on May 28th. This
year, the lead celebrations will take place at The Wheels Inn in Chatham,
Ontario as part of the 2006 National Conference. The celebration begins at 10am! The 2006
theme is “Raising awareness of the unique
risks of multiple-birth pregnancies and post-natal issues faced by parents and
multiples.” Supporting
documents and a list of
all the local MBC Chapter events have been posted on the MBC
website.
Please visit http://www.multiplebirthscanada.org/english/awareness.php
to learn more about how the national organization and many of its chapters are
celebrating this very special day.
We wish all multiple-birth families
and individuals the very best on this annual celebration day, and hope that you
will take the time to celebrate your multiple-birth children wherever you
are. You do not have to be a part of an event to take the time to
appreciate the blessings you have been given in your
children.
National
Multiple Births Awareness Day is May
28th
Celebrate!!
6. 2005 EI Survey Results and Response
from Minister of HRSDC
In
our IC from February 28th, 2006, we reported some results from the
survey of our membership on changes to the EI program from late 2005. Since we
compiled these results, a follow-up letter was sent in mid-March to the new
Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Canada (formerly Human
Resources and Skills Development Canada), the Honourable Diane Finley. In it we
outlined our top three recommendations for reform to the Employment Insurance Program, including
increasing parental leave, increasing maternity leave, and increasing the
maximum allowable payments (currently a maximum of 55%). Increasing eligibility
criteria to include more part-time workers and the self-employed was highlighted
as a fourth priority.
The
letter emphasized how these changes would speak to the direct and genuine needs
of multiple-birth families, and to the supports that they need from their
communities, and from governments, potentially saving hundreds of thousands of
dollars for the health care system. Finally, the letter concluded with an open
invitation to future meetings or consultations, and an invitation to the NMBAD
events in Chatham, Ontario during the National Conference May 25-28, 2006.
We
received a reply just over a month later – thanking us for our letter and
invitation, and indicating the Minister’s inability to attend. It was a
disappointing letter because it didn’t address any of our views or questions
directly, and didn’t indicate that there was going to be an opportunity to
pursue this discussion at any point in the future.
Despite
this setback, we intend to continue to take advantage of opportunities to
promote and disseminate the facts about multiple-birth issues, and the views of
our membership, in order to improve the quality of life for multiple-birth
individuals and their families in Canada. We feel the theme from this year’s
National Multiple Births Awareness Day: “Raising awareness of the unique risks of
multiple-birth pregnancies and post-natal issues faced by parents and
multiples” will reinforce the argument we’ve been making to the
federal government about the inadequacy of current EI provisions. We will take
the necessary steps to increase awareness and information sharing about
multiple-birth issues at local, provincial and federal levels. Your views,
comments and suggestions are always appreciated! Please contact Cheryl at cherylw@multiplebirthscanada.org.
Multiple
Births Canada/Naissances multiples Canada
PO
Box 432
Wasaga
Beach, Ontario L9Z
1A4
Toll-free
(in Canada): 1-866-228-8824
Tel:
705-429-0901
Fax:
705-429-9809
mailto:office@multiplebirthscanada.org
http://www.multiplebirthscanada.org/
National
Multiple Births Awareness Day
– May 28th
The
content of this email is not intended to be a substitute for professional
medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health
provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical
condition.
Multiple
Births Canada Information Circulars (ICs) are a mass email service managed by
the Board of Directors of Multiple Births Canada and is for information sharing
purposes only. Opinions and
conclusions expressed through this service do not necessarily reflect the views
of either the Board of Directors or the caring volunteers of Multiple Births
Canada. If you wish to be removed
or added to this list, please contact the Business Office.