At its recent meeting in Winnipeg, the National Council Women's Advisory Committee (NCWAC)  spent two intensive days polishing many ongoing initiatives, and setting the stage for new ones.

To achieve its goal of engaging and empowering the women membership in their union and in their communities, the committee has developed a number of resources and workshops including Money Skills; a course in financial literacy and planning methods to achieve financial goals. The course was launched last April, has been well received, "and now with a year's worth of user feedback, we reviewed how to make the course even more accessible for users and facilitators," says Nancy Quiring, the NCWAC chair and the UFCW Canada regional director for the Western Provinces.

The committee also discussed future initiatives to engage and empower UFCW Canada women activists to use their strength to campaign and help elect family-friendly representatives. "Many women can't picture themselves as part of the political process but they should because they can make a tremendous difference," said Jennifer Howard  – Manitoba's Minister of Labour and Immigration, NDP Government House Leader, Minister for the Status of Women  – and a keynote speaker at the NCWAC meeting.

Looking ahead, members of the NCWAC will also be participating in Women's Worlds Congress 2011 this July in Ottawa-Gatineau.  UFCW Canada is a sponsor of this global conference, which for the first time ever is being held in Canada. More than 2,000 participants are expected to attend.