The council has again been quite active since our last meeting. The April 24th health care forum was a complete success. The presentations were very excellent and the goal of re-establishing a Kingston and District Health Care Coalition is well underway. The media gave the event good coverage and we thank Natalie Mehra, Ross Sutherland , Michelle Lupa and the Ontario Health Coalition for a great job of organizing.

The Day of Mourning ceremony on April 28th was once again well attended. The poster contest winners were presented with their prizes and certificates. Mark Parent informed those present of the absolute disaster in Sarnia from the Holmes foundry. Elizabeth Jones of the Injured Workers Association, and Dave Kay an injured worker also made presentations. Peter Boyle, Betty Burkitt, Bev Norman, Judy Holsgrove, Cecilia Brooks and the rest of the volunteers did a terrific job in putting this successful event together.

Our council was represented at the official opening of Beth Pater's campaign office and I have been invited and accepted the opportunity to interview Allan McPhail on the Napanee community cable station. Once again, I would strongly urge our delegates to participate in the Election process. Please volunteer to assist Beth and Allan in any way you can. The NDP is clearly on our side.

Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to submit the grant proposal to the Canada Arts Council millenium program prior to the May 31st deadline. We hope to submit the same proposal again before the September deadline. Natalie Mehra, Jamie Swift and Nan Yeomans will work with our council on this excellent project.

We were successful in securing a summer student for our council. The position starts on June 13th and ends on August 27th. The student will help us organize the best and last Labour Day event of this century. Betty Burkitt continues making contact with local labour organizations as we proceed to update our community directory.

The CLC convention was the largest in history with over 2400 delegates in attendance. The new President is Ken Georgetti, Nancy Riche is the Secretary-Treasurer, John Claude Parrot and Hassan Yussuff are the Vice-Presidents. As we prepare for the new millennium, labour must remain focused on who the real enemies are and the new leadership of the CLC are well prepared to stand up for working people of Canada.

I have resigned from our United Way board of directors over the issue of the 1999 campaign chair. A decision has been announced that Mayor Gary Bennett will chair this year's campaign. This decision was made without the input and support of the search committee. I suggested there may be a problem if the Silent Vigil continues on the steps of City Hall over cut-backs and our Mayor asks the community to give generously to our United Way while condoning workfare. I also remember the quotes regarding labour after our Day of Action last June 8th. I am sure that this year's campaign will be successful. However I would ask all the delegates to keep a close eye on workfare as we expose which agencies sanction participation and that we make absolutely certain that NO WORKPLACE DOLLARS GO TO THOSE AGENCIES. The Social Planning Council of Kingston has endorsed a resolution condemning compulsory workfare.

In closing please ensure that you and everyone you know has their name on the Voters list and votes for our NDP party on June 3rd.

As always,
In solidarity,

Charlie Stock
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