Speaking about her bill to enable Canadian traffickers of women and children, charged abroad, to be extradited to Canada, Manitoba MP Joy Smith addressed members of the National Council of Jewish Women of Canada at their annual general meeting in Winnipeg on Oct. 24.

 

Smith’s private member’s bill has earned all party support in the Commons and resonated with the NCJWC delegates. They confirmed their priority of working against the trafficking of women and children in Canada and abroad.

 

International Council of Jewish Women President Sharon Gustafson, from California, also addressed the members, clarifying that ICJW supports efforts against trafficking in European and Latin American capitals and with the United Nations’ NGO forum on women.

 

Marni Besser of Calgary was installed as the new president. She spoke of her commitment to advocacy, to expanding the support NCJWC offers to the disadvantaged, and especially to the issue of trafficking.

 

During the AGM delegates challenged the federal government’s maternal health initiative,   reaffirmed support for Jewish genetic screening, confirmed partnerships with community social action agencies in both the secular and Jewish communities and supported reforming Jewish divorce practices where inequities exist.

 

Delegates to the meeting-- Debby Altow and Catherine Stoller from Vancouver, Marni Besser from Calgary, Jody Zabludowski and Freya Wassel from Edmonton, Sharon Allentuck, Marjorie Blankstein, Reva Craven, Dianne Glass, Michelle Glass, Judy Lipsey, Rital Gunn, Yhetta Gold, Lil Hirt, Betty Searle and Bella Wolk from Winnipeg, and Roz Fine, Debbie Wasserman, Monika Simon and Linda Steinberg from Toronto—represented hundreds of members of Council in cities across Canada.