Women's council wants more cash and space

(Left to Right) Gerri Sharpe-Staples from Inuvik, president of the NWT Status of Women Council, and Dollie Lafferty, board member from Fort Resolution, attend the first meeting of the NWT Status of Women since the new board was appointed earlier this summer. The meeting was held Friday at the Smokehouse Cafe in Ndilo. - Chris Puglia/NNSL photo

Women's council wants more cash and space

New leadership meets for first time

Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 25/02) - Crammed into an office with too many documents and too few people, the NWT Status of Women Council is asking the GNWT for more cash and a new office.

The arms-length government organization currently operates on a $299,000 annual budget, plus whatever money it can scrounge up for various programs initiatives.

But with a chaotic filing system that only staff can understand -- and some of those staff working 60 hour weeks -- the council wants $150,000 more to hire two more people, one as a staff member and one as a resource library technician.

"We're overworked," said executive director Barb Saunders. "We're extremely cramped. The resources we have aren't accessible, staff is doubling up on desks and computers, carpets are ripped, furniture is old and falling apart. It's time that we upgraded."

The council is swamped with legislative and research resources, but without an efficient cataloguing system those can only be accessed by the public with difficulty. A librarian and more space would solve that problem.

The request comes as the council's new executive met in Yellowknife for the first time this past weekend.

At the helm now is Gerri Sharpe-Staples, an Inuvik woman who currently works as an administrative co-ordinator for the Arctic Family Medical House.

Her philosophy is "if you help the mothers, you help the children." Doing that requires helping women "with better self-esteem and violence-free lifestyles," she said.

"Having had a violent childhood, violence-free lifestyles make it easier to become successful," she said.

The council will push for more women in resource-based jobs, a leadership program for women and greater awareness of women's health issues like breast cancer.

Along with Sharpe-Staples, Lorayne Menicoche Moses of Fort Simpson is the new vice-president. New board members include Yellowknife's Natasha McCagg, Fort Resolution's Dollie Lafferty and Deline's Betty Tetso. Yellowknifer Lynn Brooks is the only returning board member.