1. Howard Pell was happy to be back from his holiday in Spain. He and his wife, Rose, had a wonderful time.

 

2. Cheryl Ewing had her annual trip with her grandsons [ages 12 & 13] which was hectic but enjoyable. They visited Mexico.

 

3. Lew Ford was happy to have been involved in the Waterloo / Wellington Science and Engineering Fair at Bingeman Park last Tuesday, April 9th. He was impressed with the science projects by the grade 7 & 8 students and thanked Bill Proctor for his leadership in this event that had 332 students participate. Peter Gray was also a judge and Neil Swayze assisted as well.

 

4. Guest Lumi Mirunescu was happy to announce her daughter's gold and bronze medals earned in Ballroom dancing competitions last weekend. She also invited members to the up and coming concert by her choir at the Centre in the Square. Details at: www.grandphilchoir.com/childrens-choir/

 

5. Richard was happy about his experiences at a church retreat over the weekend which gave him time to think and reflect. His was joined by his son. 
 

All members that took part in last weekend's leadership seminar are this week's Bell ringers. They were Paul, Bill, Adrian, Howard, Hubert, Ray, Ernie, Louise, Tom, and Darren.

Q. What was the founding year of Rotary?  A. 1905.

1. Richard reminded members of the passing of Rotarian Cam Yule's mother, Jean, passed away last Wednesday at 96 years young. Memorial services are being held at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church at 11:00 AM on Wednesday. Visitation 6-9 PM Tuesday in the Heather room.

 

2. Paul asked members to note June 8th as KidsAbility Fun Day. Volunteers are needed.

 

3. Louise was promoting our Pub Night on Wed. May 8th at Descendants Brewery on Victoria St. N. Email Louise for tickets at lg.gardiner@rogers.com

 

4. Louise also wished members to become involved in the Rotary Leadership Institute. There are three sections [Part I, II, III ] being held on Sat. May 11th from 8:30 to 4:00 pm in Cambridge.

 

5. Peter Gray wanted to thank all members who helped out at the Soupfest on March 22, 2019 for World Water Day. John Webster's wife, Sheila, won the 'Silver Ladle' for the best soup from the Edelweiss Tavern.

 

All three numbers picked were not successful today. Elena S., Adrian D. and Russ S. selected non jack of hearts cards. The total for the pot was $138.00

 

Special Presentation: Guest Elena Shpinel spoke to the group about the Canada - Russia Inter-Country Committee of which she is president. This organization is to encourage mutual understanding, goodwill and co-operation between professional organizations and individuals. They wish to work together on common projects, mutual visitations and exchanges. During the next RI conference, there will be a special presentation by this group to formally invite Rotarians to become involved.

Ernie Ginsler started off our program with hilites of the District level Peace Initiatives. He stated that Rotary is the longest and largest serving peace building non profit organization in the World. It became one of our six core values and a worldwide goal since 1917. Peace Centres were established in 2002 by Rotary in six locations around the world with Masters programs. District 7080 has five clubs that successfully sponsored three Peace fellowships. The University of Waterloo has a graduate program in Peace & Conflict Studies connected with Global Governance. Graduates go on to work in areas of cyber security, government ministry departments such as immigration to develop policy initiatives. There is only one Peace Builder Club in Canada in Winnipeg and he would like  to see our club become another.

 

He introduced our guest speaker, Bryn McAuley who is a student in the UW's Masters of Arts in Global Governance, which is based at the Balsillie School of International Affairs. She is one of two Rotary Peace Scholarship recipients for 2018-2019. While pursuing her degree at Ryerson, Bryn served as Co-Director of the Peer Mentoring Committee for Ryerson's Lifeline Syria Challenge. In this role she assisted more than 15 Syrian refugee families during their first year in Canada by managing one-on-one mentoring and facilitating employment and extra-curricular opportunities. This leadership opportunity shaped her research interest in refugees and forced migrants, particularly in the context of conflict in the Middle East. Her undergraduate studies centered on U.S. foreign policy, colonialism,and democratic political theory.

 

Byrn's topic for today was on, "Border Crossings in Canada" and how many see this as a crisis. She started by speaking of the irregular path to immigrant / refugee status by referring to an incident where two Ugandan men walked from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Canada during the winter months which resulted in the loss of their fingers due to frostbite. These men were seeking asylum in Canada. A judge declared them as refugees when he ruled in their favour due to the fear of persecution in their home countries because they were homosexual. Bryn outlined the differences between the regular refugee resettlement route where the government vets them before they arrive in the country; to the asylum route where immigrants arrive by irregular means at non border crossings and ask for assistance. Canada uses the definition that a refugee leaves their home country due to fear of persecution and death. Canada uses a third country agreement [which means if they are in another country before entering Canada; they can be sent back to that country to ask for refugee status] combined with the UN Refugee Convention to decide on a person's status for refugee acceptance. With global increases in displaced persons growing; asylum claims have jumped from 23,00+ in 2016 to 51,000+ in 2018. She stated  that the backlash from U.S. Republican politicians and Canadian Conservative politicians to call it a "crisis" is a response out of fear; whereas the Canadian government's response is seeing it as a policy issue that needs to be understood and then altered. Canada is known as a welcoming country thus showing leadership and acceptance on the global stage.

 

Howard Pell thanked Bryn for her insights and presented her with our certificate of thanks that immunizes 100 children against polio.

Closing Remarks & Reminders