[fvc-wat-announce] Newsletter Fair Vote Canada Waterloo Region Chapter

[Angela Yenssen]

FAIR VOTE CANADA WATERLOO REGION CHAPTER NEWSLETTER

ISSUE #1, 2008

 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND ON WITH THE BATTLE!

      I wish a joyous and prosperous new year to all members of the Waterloo
Region Fair Vote Canada Chapter.  Now that three months have passed since
the referendum vote, and the hectic holiday season is behind us, the time
has come to resume our activities to advocate for a fair voting system in
our province and country.  My intention is that this newsletter will be the
first of four newsletters that you will receive throughout the year (one for
each quarter) to update you on chapter activities.  Please let me know if
you have ideas for newsletter content or have an article to submit.  I also
welcome suggestions for chapter activities.  I look forward to working with
all of you in the coming year to continue the fight for a better democracy!

Angela Yenssen, Chair, Fair Vote Canada Waterloo Region Chapter

ayenssen at rogers.com

(519) 747-3825

 

 

CHANGE IN LISTSERVE AND WEBSITE ADMINISTRATOR

      Thank you to Bob Jonkman who has volunteered to assume responsibility
for administration of the Waterloo Region Chapter website and e-mail
listserve.  Bob is taking over this position from Paul Nijjar.  Paul
established the chapter computer infrastructure.  We thank Paul for his
efforts and wish him well in future endeavours.  We look forward to working
with Bob to continue our regular communication with current members and to
recruit new members through the Internet.  

 

 

THANKS TO RETIRING BOARD MEMBERS

      Our chapter has lost two board members in the past two months.  Brian
Tanguay resigned from the board due to the need to balance his multiple
commitments and hectic schedule.  We thank Brian for his hard work during
the referendum campaign.  He won the award for completing the most public
debates for our chapter during the campaign!

Derek Kraan has also left our board since he is traveling overseas to study
for the next few months.  Derek was one of the founding co-chairs of the
chapter.  We thank him for his hard work and dedication to start the chapter
and raise awareness about MMP during the referendum campaign. 

 

 

WELCOME TO NEW BOARD MEMBER

Derek and Brian's resignations reduced our chapter board to three
individuals:  Angela Yenssen (chair), Kevin Smith (secretary-treasurer), and
Shannon Adshade (member at large).  Fortunately, Donna Reid, the leader of
the Cambridge Vote for MMP team, has agreed to fill one of the vacancies on
the board.  Donna has a long history of political activity and social
activism, and is a fantastic addition to our team.  Welcome aboard Donna! 

 

 

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS FOR THE BOARD OF THE CHAPTER

We still need to fill one of the vacancies on the chapter board.  Our
by-laws state that we need five to seven board members to operate our
chapter, so we need at least one more volunteer to join the board to keep
the chapter viable.  Our annual general meeting will be held in late April
so anyone who steps forward at this point to volunteer is only committed to
April.  The meeting schedule will not be rigorous because the course of our
local activism will be somewhat uncertain until a provincial direction is
established (see article below).  We need to have a full slate of board
members elected at the annual general meeting so that we do not have to
disband the chapter.  Please contact Angela Yenssen (contact information
above) if you are able to join the board until April.  Please also consider
running for the board in April so we can continue our chapter for another
year. 

 

 

PROVINCIAL TEAM TO DEVELOP A STRATEGY FOR ELECTORAL REFORM IN ONTARIO

      Fair Vote Ontario has established a strategy team to develop a plan
for advocating for electoral reform in Ontario in light of events related to
the referendum campaign.  The team will begin meeting in January.  Angela
Yenssen, Chair of the Waterloo Region Fair Vote Canada Chapter, will
represent Waterloo Region (and apparently also people in the 25-35 age
demographic) on the strategy team.  There are nine other members of the
team:  June MacDonald from Toronto (currently President of Fair Vote Ontario
because Joe Murray resigned after the referendum due to family commitments),
Wilf Day (long time member of the Fair Vote Canada board and the
organization's legal expert), Linda Sheppard (leader of the Toronto Fair
Vote Chapter), Stephana Johnson (rural Ontario representative), Gerry Kirk
(Northern Ontario representative), Rick Anderson (referendum campaign
chair), Peter Black (head of local organizing during the referendum and
eastern Ontario representative), Mark Greenan (student/youth
representative), Larry Gordon (executive director of Fair Vote Canada).  

      Angela Yenssen will keep Waterloo Region Chapter members updated about
the strategy team's progress.  Please forward any suggestions you have for a
provincial strategy to Angela, and she will convey them to the strategy
team.  

 

 

WATERLOO REGION STRATEGY NEEDED  

      The board members of the Waterloo Region Chapter will be meeting over
the next couple of months to review the referendum results in the region in
detail and to formulate a local activism strategy for the next year.  Our
referendum postmortem analysis and strategy suggestions will be presented to
the membership at the annual general meeting.  Please contact Angela Yenssen
(contact information above) with any ideas for the board to consider.
Please also contact Angela to inform the chapter board of your interests if
you would like to assist with chapter activities other than joining the
board (such as letter writing).  Any contribution that you can make to this
cause is valuable.  Knowing the volunteer base and interest for the chapter
will help board members to plan our strategy for the future.  Although the
referendum result was disheartening, the process has at least started a
conversation about electoral reform among the members of the general public
in the province.  If we continue our fight, we still have a chance to make
our dream of a better democracy a reality.  Let's make 2008 a year in which
we raise more support for our cause!  

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