Mothers at the Front, a time for education

Six Degrees of Unity sing about the power of women for Mother's Day.

North Bay’s waterfront saw a different kind of Mothers’ Day celebration Sunday as the Nipissing Transition House put ‘MOTHERS AT THE FRONT,’ in an effort to raise awareness about violence against women.

Dianne Lafrance Chair of the Board of Directors says contrary to popular belief, Mothers’ Day was not conceived and fine tuned in the boardroom of Hallmark but started by Julia Ward Howe during the American Civil War to rally mothers who had felt the pain of losing their sons. Lafrance says from that point mothers and women started to reclaim Mothers’ Day as a day of activism.

The Nipissing Transition House saw Mother’s Day as the perfect date for women to take back Mothers’ Day to remind people that not every women had a quiet, peaceful, loving day.

“Our mission is to raise awareness to the subject of violence against women and their children and eradicate it,” she says.

“And this is the perfect day to do it, to start creating a community in which women can live free from poverty, death and violence … to take back Mother’s Day.”

Nipissing MPP Monique Smith, who attended the event with her mom, agrees that it is important to remind people that not everyone was fortunate to have a nice loving Mother’s Day.

“It is going on in our community and it needs to be addressed,” states Smith.

“It is important for those who don’t suffer to help, to provide support, education and information.”