Skip to content

CFUW to mark International Women’s Day at Parksville event

Theme for 2018 event is #PressforProgress
10841324_web1_180221-UWN-Osborne-response-to-editorial_1
Black Press file photo Tofino mayor Josie Osborne will be speaking at the Canadian Federation of University Women Parksville-Qualicum’s International Women’s Day event on Thursday, March 8.

International Women’s Day is pressing for progress this year in the wake of the #TimesUp and #MeToo movements.

The theme for the International Women’s Day 2018 campaign is #PressforProgress. It results from the World Economic Forum’s 2017 Global Gender Gap Report, which found that gender parity is more than 200 years away, according to International Women’s Day website.

The Canadian Federation of University Women Parksville-Qualicum is hosting a local International Women’s Day event Thursday, March 8, from 7-9 p.m. at the Parksville Community and Conference Centre (132 Jensen Ave. E).

Admission is by donation, with net proceeds going to Vancouver Island Crisis Society.

In keeping with the International Women’s Day 2018 theme, CFUW PQ has invited Josie Osborne, District of Tofino mayor, to be the speaker at Thursday’s event. Osborne will be speaking to two topics: “Why we need more women in government” and “How do we get them there?”

In addition to Osborne’s role as mayor, she also holds a bachelor of science in marine biology and a master of arts in resource management, she worked as a fisheries biologist with the Nuu-Chah-nulth Tribal Council and serves as a board member for the Raincoast Education Society and the Tofino Botanical Gardens.

According to a release from CFUW PQ, Osborne will explore the history and current state of women’s involvment in government and how people are moving forward together.

She will share her personal journey and challenges, the release states, as well as share advice for girls, women and all who have a role in supporting women in taking on leadership positions.

The two-hour event will start with the telling of a First Nations story, The Little Mice and the Douglas Fir by Indigenous students in School District 69 (Qualicum).

Displays at the event will also include photographs of Parksville Qualicum Beach women in government, celebrating their achievements, and paintings by Qualicum Beach artist Peggy Burkosky.

For more information, visit www.cfuwpq.ca

— NEWS Staff/CFUW PQ release