October 3, 2003
Mandate:
“To provide CHSF members with information
and keep them updated about current events. News items can
be distributed within the provincial federations”
GREAT
NEWS! CHSF HAS BEEN DESIGNATED TO BE OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
!
Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Honourable
Sheila Copps has written to us advising us of our designation.
The Historic Sites and Monument Board of Canada considered
the national significance of the Canadian Home and School
Federation and recommended its designation in December 2002.
The Board recommended “the formation and development
of the Canadian Home and School Federation for designation
as a National Historic Event! It further recommended that
the Canadian Home and School Federation be marked by means
of a standard bilingual bronze plaque at Baddeck, Nova Scotia.
The commemorative intent for CHSF was because:
• bringing together the country’s
local, regional and provincial associations, it made an
outstanding contribution to childhood well-being in Canada
through its charitable activities, its public awareness
campaigns, and its unconditional support for progressive
school reforms that subsequently shaped the Canadian system
of education.;
• it was a key participant in positioning schools
at the center of community interests, and thus engendered
in the Canadian population an acceptance of the public education
system;
• it made possible the establishment and development
of the role of mothers and female teachers in the school
and in the community, thus helping women to advance in the
public education system; and,
• it has had associations in most communities of the
country and was, at its peak, the largest voluntary organization
in Canada
Preparations for a plaque unveiling ceremony
will entail consultation with CHSF regarding the plaque
text and other logistical matters . This process usually
takes at least 18 months. An executive summary of the research
paper will be available at midterm if not earlier.
CHSF
CONTINUES TO SUPPORT NATIONAL FAMILY WEEK
October 6th to 12th . CHSF is listed as
a National Supporter on their website www.familyservicecanada.org/nfw.
National
Family Week Launches!
Starting Monday, October 6th, this year's National
Family Week begins!
FAMILY AND WORK: SEEKING A HEALTHY BALANCE
Schedules, deadlines, timelines, bottom lines -- where
does family fit in? National Family Week© has
been celebrated since 1985 when it was proclaimed an official
week by the Government of Canada. It is always the week
before Thanksgiving, which is a time of family togetherness.
THE
CANADIAN COPYRIGHT ACT – reassessment continues
to be of concern to CHSF. In April 2002 CHSF sent a letter
of support for the education exception
to be included in the reassessment of the act to CMEC
(Council of Ministers of Education) .CMEC responded that
our support was appreciated and the Copyright Consortium
of which they were part would continue its advocacy. We
have received correspondence from the office of the Senior
Policy Strategist indicating that we need to be vocal about
our concerns immediately. It seems the Committee on Canadian
Heritage doing the reassessment is considering increased
regulatory and enforcement measures. Why should
CHSF be concerned?
• The current Copyright Act makes common, day to day
educational uses of the Internet illegal. Students who electronically
store and share freely available, publicly accessible Internet
materials are in violation of the Copyright
Act. This situation where routine educational uses of the
Internet are illegal is clearly untenable.
• CHSF encourages the Parliamentary Committee to adopt
an “education amendment” to
the Copyright Act that sets parameters on Internet materials
for educational purposes. It is possible that such an amendment
“can coexist with strong support for protection of
the works of creators” (quote from the virtual conference
on the reassessment) CHSF will send a letter of concern
to the Parliamentary Committee echoing its position of April
2002.
DISSEMINATION
PROJECT - There have been no ads forwarded to CHSF
to date. CHSF is prepared and has the funds on account to
deal with the distribution. We’ll keep you posted.
CTF MEDIA RESEARCH RESULTS – Pat
Waters, Past President of CHSF represented CHSF on the CTF
Media Research Advisory Committee.
The survey results are in and there will be a launch of
the research on November 19th in Toronto to which CHSF is
invited. Here are some notes from the CTF website:
The program’s foundation piece is a national study
of the media that young Canadians aged 8 - 15 are using,
what satisfactions they obtain from their media consumption
and how the violence in those media influences their behaviour
and values. The research, involving 5,000 students in every
province and territory, is unprecedented in Canada. The
children and youth surveyed will be representative of the
population in terms of region, gender, age, race and other
demographics.
This important initiative is funded by the
Department of Justice’s National Crime Prevention
Centre. Among other things, it addresses the continuum of
violence our young people are continually exposed to, whether
it be in a video game, a film, on the streets or in the
playground.
Further information on this research can
be found at www.ctf-fce.ca
CHSF
EXECUTIVE MEETING – The executive met via
conference call on September 21, 2003. Part of the agenda
was to review the to-do list from the AGM and plan the mid-term
meeting. Next executive meeting is October 19th.
UPCOMING
EVENTS:
October 19th CHSF Executive Meeting
November 5th to 7th Schoolnet Advisory Meeting
November 7th to 8th Nova Scotia Annual General Meeting
Saint John’s Newfoundland.
November 14th to 15th CHSF Midterm Meeting Ottawa
November 19th CTF Media Awareness Research Launch
November 20th National Child Day
