June 11th

She gave a brief overview of what to expect at the meeting on June 13 at the Hilton Hall. There will be separate groups to give overviews of what they have been doing. Dale will be doing the public relations group. She encouraged each of us to attend as well as inviting friends and neighbours as well. The Katimavik students have been inputting the petitions and auditing them. We should be doing some as well as we pick them up.
The buttons are all here. Dale has been distributing them to area residents and businesses to sell them. She also handed in money from previous sales of buttons, etc. Most of her invoices that she had been holding have been submitted for payment.
Dale is hoping after the public meeting on June 13 that there will be an influx of new members for our group. We could then hopefully get volunteers for going to area events to advertise the cause. We should come up with lists of events upcoming in the area that we should have a presence at.
Donald suggested we approach the St. Joe museum about featuring what they have on Matthews as well as having buttons and other information there. He also suggested asking at the Fort as well. Since this is under federal jurisdiction, it is not certain if they would allow things on the area. Signs can be put up though on the public roads.
Heather Fox will be resigning from our group so she can operate as a private citizen to get the hospital back again. A discussion ensued about what is required to keep the hospital open and to get better services. Hopefully we will get a clear objective from the public meeting on June 13 as to what we need to do to save what we have and then look forward to having more services.
It is also important to educate the general public about the fact that Matthews is not a hospital since the inhouse beds were taken away over 10 years ago. All that was saved last time was the emergency department.
Discussion ensued about the steering committee. Many points of view were brought forward and were talked over. We have to be careful of rumours and deal with the facts and present a united front.
Next Meeting: MacLennan Hall on Thursday June 18 7:00pm
Donald/Joan will book the hall and let Dale know if it is a go.