[fvc-wat-announce] Guelph Public Consultation: This Saturday!

[Paul Nijjar]

Waterloo Meeting Followup
-------------------------

 	First of all, thanks to everybody who helped make the Waterloo 
consultation last week such a success. It looks like somewhere between 
90-120 people showed up for at least part of the evening, which really 
helps drive home the message that this issue is important to a lot of 
people. Several people I spoke to after the meeting commented that they 
found the evening educational and worthwhile. The room was stifling hot 
and much too small, but it looks like we made a difference -- we got some 
coverage in the Record the next day, and a few television stations showed 
up.

Guelph Public Consultation: Jan 20
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 	If you missed the fun this time around there is another 
opportunity to catch a public consultation -- this time on Saturday 
January 20, in Guelph. The consultation will be held in Conference Room 2 
at the Ministry of Agriculture building on 1 Stone Road, at Stone and 
Gordon streets. This is an afternoon consultation: from 1-4pm.

 	We want to accomplish three things for this consultation: get a 
good turnout, get Guelph residents informed about fair voting, and get 
Waterloo Region people who may have missed the first meeting an 
opportunity to see what the fuss is about.

 	Even folks who went to the Waterloo consultation may be 
interested in signing up for a speaking slot to give an oral presentation 
for this meeting. (The location was finalized at the last minute, and 
there may well be speaking slots still available.)

Transportation and Carpooling
-----------------------------

 	Because Guelph is pretty far away, it may be hard for people who 
are interested in attending the meeting to make their way there. Greyhound 
does have some bus service to the area, but that is about it. So once 
again we are looking for carpoolers.

 	If you are planning to drive to the meeting and can take some 
carpoolers, then please send me an e-mail telling me how many people you 
can take and where you can do pickups. (Getting some carpool action from 
Cambridge would be really nice..)

 	If you are needing a ride to get to the Guelph meeting, send me 
an e-mail letting me know where you are willing to be picked up.

 	I will do my best to match carpoolers with carpoolees (and maybe 
this time I won't send out incorrect phone numbers).

Outreach
--------

 	Of course, we don't want to flood the meeting with Waterloo 
people only. We want to get as many Guelphites involved as well. If you 
know people who live in Guelph and might be interested in this, please 
pass on the word. If you have contacts at media outlets in Guelph 
(newspapers, radio, etc.) then please get in touch with me -- I can 
forward a press release to you.


Written Comments
----------------

 	I can't let an e-mail go by without reminding you that the 
deadline for written comments to the Assembly are due by January 31. The 
comments need not be elaborate -- even telling the Assembly what values 
you look for in a voting system is helpful. The more people we can get 
submitting their comments to the Assembly, the more we can emphasize that 
we would prefer that the Assembly chooses a fair voting system.


Future Meetings
---------------

 	Any time now, our chapter co-chairs will be announcing some 
planning meetings for the chapter. If you would like to get involved with 
outreach, the speaker's bureau or anything else related to spreading the 
word about fair voting, please come out and/or contact me or a co-chair. 
It's going to take a lot of work to win this referendum; we could really 
use your help.

--
Paul Nijjar - http://www.fairvotecanada.org/WaterlooRegion