Guelph by-law approved!!!

Wow, it's been a long time since we've posted an update...it's been unbelieveable busy and time has just flown by.

We've been occupied with preparing receipts for our monthly donors; approximately 800 receipts have to be entered then checked and double-checked before being mailed out. Liz is busily writing personal "thank you" notes, something which is time-consuming but necessary nonetheless. It's nice for all of us to sit around our big work table and chat while getting this mailing out the door. It doesn't happen often that we work like that so we're enjoying it.

We're still waiting for our audits to be approved by Elections Canada. So far they have approved our General Election Campaign submissions for Simon, Karen, and Liz. We're still waiting for approval for Marie's campaign and for Karen's by-election campaign. And we're gearing up for our annual party audit, which should take place in March or April.

The trapping by-law that went before Guelph council on December 22nd was unanimously approved. Guelph is the first city in Canada to have approved a by-law that will ban trapping within city limits! Thanks to Liz and Karen humans and non-humans alike are much safer in Guelph.

And more good news: the kittens, Coco (see pic below) and Cleo, were adopted! Yay!

In a Nutshell...

We had an officer's meeting last night and here are a few points that were discussed:

1) Liz reported on trapping. For those who don't know, we became involved in Guelph in 2005 on a trapping issue when a dog was killed in a trap. After several consultations, a by-law in Guelph is going before the committee on December 3rd and before council on the 22nd. Hopefully there will be little to no opposition, so we’ll be able to use this as a model for other municipalities.

2) Karen reported that Gail Shea, the new Fisheries Minister, is not going to change anything about the seal hunt. The European Union has a partial ban but are trying to get a full ban. The Canadian Seafood Boycott campaign continues.

3) We are considering a party name change. Any and all suggestions are still welcome.

4) And we're pretty much done with all our audits.

There seems to be great interest in the Party, a major step in the right direction for non-human animals. Politicians in the U.S. are vocal about animal issues, so it is our job to force these same issues onto the Canadian political radar. The voiceless are depending on us, and we must not let them down.

Btw, that's Coco, the newest addition to our foster family here at the office. I thought I would end on a positive note = )