MCW Women in the News

Read about some of our members who have been in the news.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Elspeth Angus, MCW Honorary Councillor

Interview on CBC Daybreak, on March 26, 2013 "Don't turn the Royal Victoria Hospital into condos, heir warns"

Cheryl Braganza, Artist, Painter, Pianist, Poet, Writer and MCW Convener for Arts, Culture & Heritage

Interview on Global TV for the Women's Art Society of Montreal

Article in The Montreal Gazette, September 4, 2012 - Click on "Seeking Inspiration" painting by Cheryl Braganza; article "Will this Help?" by Sue Montgomery of The Montreal Gazette.

The Honorable Lucie Pépin, C.Q., B.A., Honorary President of MCW

On September 7, 2011, The Honorable Lucie Pépin, Senator, one of Canada's most illustrious women leaders, retired from Parliament Hill.  Appointed to the Senate in 1997 by the Rt. Honorable Jean Chrétien, Senator Lucie Pépin represented the province of Quebec and the Senatorial Division of Shawinigan.  Lucie Pépin has led the charge on many issues concerning women which resulted in important advancements in several areas.  She took on Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau under the auspices of the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women to obtain the entrenchment of women's rights in the Constitution.  In order to achieve this, she gathered support from women's groups across Canada which went to the premiers of each province and these efforts resulted in unanimity among the premiers.  She has fought for legislation against domestic violence and was elected as a Liberal MP for the riding of Outremont from 1984 to 1988.  Among the many issues she has fought for are women's health, reproductive rights, family-planning clinics, allowing condom machines on university campuses, etc.   The Rt. Honorable Brian Mulroney appointed Lucie Pépin to two Royal Commissions (Electoral Reform and Party Financing (1989-92)) and to the Appeals Division of the National Parole Board (1993-1997. Lucie Pépin is busy with volunteer work three days a week and plans to continue her work in activism in her retirement.  She holds a Diploma in Nursing Sciences (1959) and a Post-graduate diploma in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (1960) from the University of Montreal.  Senator Pépin is the recipient of several awards of distinction for her efforts, including the Chevalier de l’Ordre du Québec (1999), and an LL.D. (honoris causa) from McMaster University (1994).  We are proud that The Honorable Lucie  Pépin serves as Honorary President of the Montreal Council of Women.  (Excerpts taken from articles below.)

Read an article on the Liberal Senate Forum:  The Hon. Lucie Pépin, C.Q., B.A. -  Senator Lucie Pépin retired on September 7, 2011

Read an article by Dale Smith, Freelance Journalist, published in Xtra "Lucie Pépin retires from the Senate, Parliament Hill/Led fight for women's rights and family planning". 
 

Cheryl Braganza - Artist, Painter, Pianist, Poet, Writer and MCW Convener for Arts, Culture and Heritage

View a film produced by English Language Arts Network of Quebec: click on Cheryl Braganza - Visual Arts  A delightful  film on Cheryl's life as artist, painter, pianist, poet and writer in Montreal.

Elspeth Angus - MCW Honorary Councillor

"Heirs want say on Royal Victoria site" - Superhospital project means the venerable institution might end up being sold to private developers, by David Johnston, The Gazette, December 17, 2010.  Click here to view the article in the Gazette.

Noblesse Oblige Elspeth Angus, 81, studies a topographic map from 1879. 

Her family donated the land where the Royal Victoria Hospital stands, and

stipulated it could be used only for the hospital itself.  The institution is to

move to the superhospital and David Johnston reports that Angus and the

rest of her clan are determined that the Mount Royal site not be consigned

to private development.

Photograph by:  PIERRE OBENDRAUF, THE GAZETTE

SHOULD WE CURTSEY WHEN SHE ENTERS THE ROOM -  Or would a polite bow be sufficient?

There was our very own «blue-blooded» Elspeth Angus on page 1 of the Gazette and star of an accompanying video, where she was smiling seductively at her interviewer.  Seeing and reading her were both very uplifting. 

Probably quite a few of us had known for some time that she had been working very hard indeed on sorting out the family papers ; we also knew how very concerned she was about the future of the Royal Vic and had been wondering how and when she would proceed on that issue.  Finally she spoke out…And made quite a lot of noise for someone who speaks so softly. 

The Scottish grandmother of a friend of mine used to say, almost in a whisper, when her family, children and grandchildren, were behaving badly or rudely at the dinner table: «Must I raise my voice?» and a deathly silence would ensue. «What terrible thing would happen if Grandmother ever raised her voice?» I have always thought of Elspeth being raised in a similar context; perhaps she is related to the other Scottish grandmother… 

Naturally, she presented her case very well. Respect for the conditions of the original donation as well as respect for current needs combined with consideration of the peculiarly suitable environment on Mount Royal, all concerted to convince many of us of the reasonableness of the Mount Stephen family’s wishes.

And while we wait for the wishes to be fulfilled, les us congratulate Elspeth on her intervention and on her brilliantly simple solution to an ongoing problem. AND TELL EVERYBODY THAT SHE IS A LONGTIME MEMBER OF THE MCW WHERE SHE IS STILL CURRENTLY WORKING ON OUR ARCHIVES TOO AND HELPING US ORGANIZE OUR WOTY LUNCHES AT THE MOUNT STEPHEN CLUB. 

THANK YOU, ELSPETH. WE, IN THE MCW, ARE SO PROUD OF YOU. YOU MAY LIVE MODESTLY, AS YOU SAY, BUT YOU ALSO LIVE WITH MUCH PANACHE !!! 

Mair Verthuy, Secretary, MCW 

Link to the video:  Elspeth Angus and the Royal Victoria Hospital   

Heirs want a Say on Royal Vic:  Héritage Montréal and Les amis de la montagne co-sign a letter in The Gazette

Article from Gazette:     http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/todays-paper/Heirs+want+Royal+site/3990545/story.html=

Editorial in Gazette:  Mountain worth saving            

Sheri McLeod - NDG Senior Citizens Council and MCW Vice President, Program

Below is an article written by Mr. Martin C. Barry for The Senior Times (www.theseniortimes.com) published in the December 2009 edition: http://theseniortimes.com/article/2009/11/sheri-mcleod-senior-in-training.html .  The Senior Times and Mr. Barry have kindly authorized us to reprint this article and we are very pleased and proud to include it in this month’s Bulletin for our members to enjoy.  Sheri McLeod is the Executive Director for the NDG Senior Citizens Council and an MCW Board member. 

SHERI MCLEOD: SENIOR IN TRAINING 

By Martin C. Barry for The Senior Times

After nearly 20 years with the NDG Senior Citizens Council, Sheri McLeod has come to the conclusion that retirees today increasingly are viewed through a “wider lens,â€