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07/01/2016 – 3:30 p.m.
KELOWNA – Members of one of the oldest business groups in town are voting tonight on what may be a strange sounding decision – whether or not to let women into the club.
The Kelowna Jaycees have been bringing together business people ages 18 to 40 since 1935. Although it appears that women were allowed to join the club at some point, they were excluded for many years. Kelowna women have formed their own club through JCI International, but sources say those numbers are dwindling, leading to yet another call from inside the Jaycees to remove the gender barrier.
The Kelowna Jaycees also seem to be alone on this principle – the JCI International website not only mentions men, shows many photos of women’s participation, boasts of international efforts to “remove legal barriers to the economic empowerment of women”. Attempts to contact the international organization were unsuccessful before the deadline.
President Kevin Lavigne and former Kelowna Jaycees President Sean Glendinning did not answer calls on the matter.
Sources say 75 percent of members have to vote to let women in or it fails.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Marshall Jones at mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2016
