CWL targets billboard ads

Radio station's ads offensive, group says

By RENATO GANDIA
WCR Staff Writer
Wetaskiwin

During their 80th annual convention, the league passed a resolution to encourage different councils and their members to write to Pattison Outdoor Group, KRock 97 and the City of Edmonton Citizens Action Centre to complain about KRock's semi-nude billboards.

The league agreed that the last two billboard advertising campaigns of the radio station, KRock 97, displayed by Pattison Outdoor Group, were offensive.

The billboard in question "displayed nudity, inappropriate use of words and exploitation of sexuality."

For the last six years, the archdiocesan CWL council has not passed any resolution. That barren spell ended during this convention attended by 230 members, April 26-28 at Sacred Heart Church Hall.

Similar complaints that resulted in the removal of the billboards in early April were sent to the Advertising Standards of Canada in mid-March.

But the CWL members are concerned that the radio station will put out another billboard that shows nudity and portrays sexuality.

"We want to make sure that they do not cross that edge, so we encourage every member of CWL in the archdiocese to write to them and air their objection" Dorothy Johansen, CWL archdiocesan president, told the WCR.

"We will also write to the advertising standards and commend them on having those billboards removed," Johansen added.

Fran Lucas, archdiocesan president-elect, said, "By doing that kind of advertising, we're setting the tone for the young people that it's okay to display nudity in public.

"I want to see some guidelines put in place that are very stringent on what is okay to have up there and advertise and what is not."

Lucas knows that the league has some impact since it is the biggest female organization in Canada.

"The government does listen to us on various levels. So we take advantage of that, but we need to continue to do so on a regular basis."

"We will also write to the advertising standards and commend them on having those billboards removed." - Dorothy Johansen

June Fuller of Holy Family Council, said, "I feel that our society has just become too relaxed in our way of thinking and what we allow to be shown to our children speaks that our values have become decreased.

"Our kids look at these (billboards) and think nothing of (them). I think they become so immune to this kind of culture."

The league passed two other resolutions to be forwarded to the provincial council.

One called for priests who have committed sexual abuse not be placed in a situation where further temptation may occur. The league also called on the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops to develop and implement a policy regarding sexual abuse by clergy.

A third resolution concerns Christian freedom being at risk in Canada.

Pam de Luca, of St. Thomas More Council strongly supports the third resolution.

"The most important thing for us to do is to continue to be witnesses of God, to be witnesses of Christ in the world, to make sure that Christian values are in the forefront."

Other religious beliefs are not given any restrictions in public celebrations, while Christianity has been restricted, de Luca said.

"You cannot mention Christ or God in public memorial celebrations. New Testament readings are definitely not acceptable. It has to be very generic. For me personally, it is something that has to be overcome as a Christian country."

Johansen told the WCR, "It was not too difficult to pass these resolutions because of the discussion on the issues a day before. We had a time to actually talk about them."

Representatives of the archdiocese are preparing to push the other two resolutions to the provincial council, which will convene May 30-June 2 in Morinville.

During the convention, talks on issues in First Nations' education and spirituality were held between their business meetings.

The women also awarded the Doreen Melton Scholarship to seminarian Tim Strauss and prizes for their poster and essay writing contest were distributed.

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