[fvc-wat-announce] Joint meeting with Council of Canadians, 7pm Wed 25 Oct 2017 at Bread & Roses

[Bob Jonkman]

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Hi Fair Voters: This month, the regular date for the Fair Vote
Waterloo Discussion Night falls on the same day as the KW Council of
Canadians meeting. But rather than making you choose one or the other,
we're holding a joint meeting!

There is considerable overlap in the membership of our groups, and one
of the Council of Canadians' campaigns is Electoral Reform. This joint
meeting is one way that we can offer support to CoC.

This is also an opportunity for FairvoteWRC members who haven't heard
about Council of Canadians, and might like to join that organization.
And, of course, it's an introduction to FairvoteWRC for CoC members
who would like to get involved with FairvoteWRC in a focused campaign
solely on electoral reform.


*What*: Joint meeting of @FairvoteWRC and KW Council of Canadians @KWCofC
*When*: Wednesday, 25 October 2017 from 7:00pm to 9:00pm
*Where*: Community Meeting Room, Bread & Roses Co-op
*Location*: 307 Queen Street South, Kitchener, Ontario
*Map*: https://osm.org/go/ZXnwTLMg--?m=

Parking:  If you're driving, place a note on the dashboard of your
vehicle:

  *Meeting in Community Room re Apt 107 from 7-9pm*

and park in the north lot, on the other side of the Morrison-Reist
building - map: https://osm.org/go/ZXnwTL0rw--?m=


There's no fixed agenda for this meeting, but the following are points
for discussion:

There will be a town hall meeting sponsored by the Canadian Labour
Congress on Tuesday, November 7, 2017, 6:30 pm and St. David’s
Catholic Secondary School, 4 High St, Waterloo featuring Kitchener-
Waterloo MPP Catherine Fife, Ontario Health Coalition Executive
Director Natalie Mehra, and other local politicians. We urge all who
can get there to attend.


Several of us attended the CoC Guelph meeting on 18 October at which
Maude Barlow and Gus Van Harten spoke eloquently about the dangers of
NAFTA and its implications for water rights. This provided a number of
ideas we can talk about regarding further advocacy and actions.

  * Van Harten urged everyone present to write to Office of the
Minister of Foreign Affairs at chrystia.freeland at international.gc.ca
and ask her with due respect to get Canada out of ISDS


Philippe Charbonneau (Political Team Admin Assistant in Ottawa) asks
if chapters would be interested in screening a new documentary on the
cooperative enterprise model called A Silent Transformation that
features Maude Barlow ‒ http://asilenttransformation.ca/  There would
be a small fee. If there is sufficient interest, we will ask for
further details.


The Liberal government has not kept the campaign promise to restore
protection to the 99% of lakes and rivers removed from the schedule of
protected waters under the Harper government. CoC chapters are urged
to call on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Transport Minister Marc
Garneau for protection of a local lake or river. For further details
see http://www.freshwateralliance.ca/no_waters_left_behind and
https://canadians.org/media/groups-across-
canada-urge-trudeau-government-protect-100-lakes-and-rivers


Friday, 10 November 2017 at 3:30pm, FairvoteWRC will present a
petition in support of proportional representation to MP Raj Saini at
his Constituency Office (Suite 202 - 209 Frederick Street, Kitchener.
Electoral reform is one of the areas in which CoC and FairvoteWRC
overlap, and the more we can coordinate our efforts, the more likely
we are to succeed. All are invited to attend.


The FairvoteWRC Outreach subcommittee is reaching out to faith-based
communities to build awareness of and allies on the issue of
proportional representation (PR) in the community. Their goals are to

 * create awareness of FairvoteWRC

 * offer an opportunity to further educate about the issue

 * invite endorsement of our work with an invitation to engage or join
with us in the future


On 1 February 2017 the mandate letter for the Hon. Kristina Gould,
Minister of Democratic Institutions was released, marking the first
official announcement that the Liberals would be breaking their
promise that "2015 will be the last election under First Past The
Post". FairvoteWRC intends to hold an event (protest, rally, public
information meeting) to remind people, and especially the Liberals,
that we have not forgotten the promise, and that we'll be holding the
Liberals to account.


Every year FairvoteWRC tries to hold several public information events
during the winter months. We could bring in a speaker, show a movie,
or hold a seminar to explain the mechanics of proportional
representation. Sometimes these events are held as part of Discussion
Nights; sometimes they're held separately. The Kitchener Public
Library has been a suitable venue in the past.


See you on Wednesday!

- --Bob Jonkman
FairvoteWRC Co-chair


- -- 
Bob Jonkman <bjonkman at sobac.com>          Phone: +1-519-635-9413
SOBAC Microcomputer Services             http://sobac.com/sobac/
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