There are twenty Zonta Clubs in Canada. They are assigned to five districts: D1: 2, D2: 2, D4:12, D15: 2 and D8: 2.
For a few years, some District 4 Canadian members have been attempting to set up a network of Canadian clubs so there could be a Canadian focus and advocacy on issues of importance to Zonta members.
A Zonta USA Caucus has been in place for over three years and has initiated continuous communication to Zonta clubs and members across the USA.
In August 2021, the Zonta International Advocacy Committee and the Governors of the five districts coordinated the calling of the first meeting of the Zonta Canada Caucus. Each Zonta district with Canadian clubs had named a delegate and alternate delegate.
It soon became clear that five was an inadequate number of delegates for the Canada Caucus so it was agreed to have two delegates per district. The District 4 delegates have been Tanya Tagwerker (Guelph) and Joan Westcott (Kitchener-Waterloo). Each district governor and incoming governor (once elected) are also considered members of the caucus.
While we wanted to be immediately as visible and active as the USA Caucus we needed time to focus on how we would operate and what issues we would start with. A Communications Committee under the leadership of Tanya Tagwerker has put a communication system in place for the caucus members and work is well underway on a website. The Caucus has identified three issues for focus at this time: gender-based violence, child marriage, and human trafficking. Information is being collected and action plans will be developed before information goes out to each district for promoting to the clubs in that district.
It is our hope that co-ordinated advocacy across all of the Canadian clubs can lead to some changes on issues at the federal and provincial levels.
Tanya Tagwerker
Joan Westcott
June 2022
