FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 1997. All Rights Reserved.
NEWS
by FFWD StaffNew YWCA resource centre planned
The YWCA Women's Resource Centre in Kensington will close in June and a revamped resource centre will open as part of the new YWCA when the renovations to the downtown facility are completed in early 1998. The centre will be the "information hub" of the YWCA, a place where families can find out about programs and volunteer opportunities as well as a friendly meeting place.
The centre, to be run predominantly be volunteers, will be affordable within the YWCA's limited resources and will better utilize its expertise without duplicating resources available through other Calgary agencies.
The decision is in response to funding changes from the City of Calgary. "With today's increasing social problems and decreasing resources available, there is a need to focus our efforts, collaborate with similar services and not duplicate services," says Eva Friesen, CEO of the YWCA. The agency has seen an increasing need in the area of family violence support and has expertise in that area through its work with women, men and children and the Sheriff King Family Support Centre. To respond to increased demand, the YWCA asked the city Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) for funding for their family violence work. Due to funding constraints across all programs, FCSS could not expand the funding envelope to the YWCA, but encouraged a transfer of funds across programs.
The YWCA Women's Resource Centre has provided information, referral, peer counselling, workshops and training, and emergency support (food, clothing and bus tickets) to women in Calgary since the 1970s. In 1996, over 13,000 client contacts were made.
Many of the services provided will be continued at the YWCA while others will be transferred to agencies that already provide a similar service. The free legal advice program will be continued at the YWCA. The information and referral program will be transferred to the City of Calgary information centre. Crisis calls will be transferred to the existing crises services in Calgary, including the YWCA's Sheriff King Family Support Centre and the Calgary Distress Centre. Emergency needs such as housing, food and clothing will be transferred to the many agencies such as the food bank, shelters and the YWCA itself which already provide this service.
"Although initially the Kensington Centre will be missed by many, we believe with increased collaboration the service impact to women in need will be minimized," says Friesen. "However, we acknowledge change is difficult."
For more information call Eva Friesen at 263-1550.
Liberals win majority, but Reform takes Calgary
The Liberals return to power with a slim majority following the June 2 vote, however, they are locked out of Calgary after the Reform Party swept all seven city constituencies and gained official opposition status.
The election resulted in a new look in the House of Commons with five official parties - instead of three prior to the vote - including a total 155 Liberal seats, 60 Reform seats, 44 Bloc seats, 21 NDP seats and 20 PC seats as well as one Independent.
Alberta remains a Reform stronghold except for two Edmonton ridings which elected Liberals. In Calgary, elected Reform MPs include Art Hanger in Northeast, Diane Ablonczy in Nose Hill, Deepak Obhrai in East, Preston Manning in Southwest, Jason Kenney in Southeast, Eric Lowther in Centre and Rob Anders in West. Liberal candidates followed in second place in most ridings with Progressive Conservatives - including former Reformer Jan Brown - in third.
New protected areas established under Special Places
The province has designated a new ecological reserve and a new natural area totalling 8,588 acres to Alberta's network of Special Places. Ty Lund, minister of environmental protection, announced that Holmes Crossing Sandhills Ecological Reserve, northwest of Barrhead, and Yamnuska Natural Area, east of Canmore, have received official designation under Alberta's Special Places program.
"With the addition of these two sites, Alberta continues to make significant progress on our Special Places program," says Lund. "To date, we have added 36 sites and approximately 500,000 acres to the recreation and protected areas network under Special Places.
The reserve represents the sand dune theme for the Central Mixedwood Boreal Forest Natural Region. It preserves 4,899 acres of jackpine and lichen covered sand dunes and includes one of the best example of stabilized transverse dunes in Canada, along with several small lakes. The primary intent of ecological reserves is to preserve undisturbed benchmark areas for scientific research. Compatible uses include wildlife viewing, environmental education, photography and hiking.
Yamnuska Natural Areas preserves 3,688 acres of exceptionally diverse terrain in the Bow Valley east of Canmore, including a number of rare plants that have been identified in the area.
Special Places is a provincial program to complete a network of protected areas that preserve examples of the environmental diversity of the province's six natural regions and 20 subregions. However, the program has been criticized by environmentalists because it will not protect designated areas from development - the government has stated it will honor all previous development commitments within designated areas.
Brown Bag Lunch Series now under way
Calgary Parks and Recreation has resumed the Brown Bag Lunch Series on Olympic Plaza. The events take place every Wednesday at noon throughout the summer until September 3.
The series kicked off June 4 with a performance by David Thiaw and Domba, a hot fusion of jazz and African rhythms.
For more information, call Cindy at 268-4784.
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