[fvc-wat-disc] (Partial) AGM minutes

[Paul Nijjar]

 	After reading these minutes, I am sure it will become quickly 
apparent why Kevin is our new secretary...

PARTIAL AGM MINUTES

Present: Paul Nijjar, Andrew Cant, Derek Kraan, Mike Keenan, Angela
Yenssen, Kevin Smith, Rick Fairman, Bryn Ossington, Sean Geobey, Wendy
Holm, Nick Rolfe, Shannon Adshade, Brian Tanguay, Graham Engel, Mary
Ann Wasilka

PAST ACTIVITIES

   - Nick went through the activities we carried out last term: talks,
     OCA public consultations, nomination meetings
   - Derek gave a report of our financials. Our income was $275 and our
     spending was $21, leaving us with $254. Nick made a motion to
     approve the budget. Shannon seconded.

EXECUTIVE ELECTION

   Six members nominated themselves for the board, so it was acclaimed:

   Derek Kraan
   Shannon Adshade
   Angela Yenssen - co-chair
   Kevin Smith - secretary [so he's taking minutes next time!]
   Brian Tanguay - co-chair
   Sean Geobey - treasurer

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES

   Paul blathered on about areas in which people could sign up:
     - Speakers Bureau: for information nights and presentations
     - Media: press releases, responding to negative press, etc.
     - Networking and Outreach: arranging speakers and contacts with
         other organizations
     - Doorknocking: we have 4 ridings to cover
     - Fundraising: our chapter may not be responsible for this, but
         it might be helpful

   - There will be monthly information nights that people should
     advertise (but maybe not too much -- see below)

   - We are trying to get out to nomination meetings. Paul has a
     clipping for federal nomination meetings that are not yet filled.
     Somebody needs to contact these riding associations and get us
     into these meetings.
       + Mike will investigate NDP meetings
       + Rick will investigate Green Party meetings


   - People talked about campaign ideas
     0. Having debates (maybe on campus)
       + good idea, but who wants to debate against us?
       + this will come later in the campaign

     1. Get articles in publications

   - Mary Ann asked about the arguments against proportional
     representation:
       0. Fear of coalition governments
         + but coalitions under PR have less incentive to split than
         minorities under FPTP
         + the mindset of those entering coalitions is different than
         FPTP

       1. "Unaccountable party hacks" selecting list members
         + "The list members are not elected"
         + "List members are used for social engineering"

       2. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"
         + just like slavery...
         + John Tory and Greg Sorbara apparently said that people are
         not asking for electoral reform

       3. The appeal of "strong majority governments"
         + almost everybody hated one Ontario premier in the 1990s
         + when a "strong majority" gets in it undoes the policies
         of the previous governments

       4. Too many MPPs
         + Ontario has less representation than every other province
         [source? -- ed]
         + We are restoring the number of MPPs to previous levels

    - People talked about other countries
      + New Zealand had a review of their MMP system after one
      election.
      + They had a horrendous outcome in their first election but
      people still kept the system. Brian will look up the report.
      + There was improved representation for women and Maori in the
      election.

      + Mexico and Hungary don't have "pure" MMP systems. Other
      countries that do have MMP: Germany, New Zealand,
      Bolivia, [Venezuala, Lesotho, Italy --ed]
      + Brian says that the case of New Zealand is probably most
      relevant to us

      + Most Eastern European countries have parallel systems
      + Most Scandanavian countries use pure list-PR (sometimes with
      multi-member ridings)


    - After the technical discussion, people talked about how important
      it was to keep our speaking points simple and easy to understand

      + Beat on FPTP: it is a 40-60-100 system: 40 % of the vote gets
      60% of the seats which translates to 100% of the power

      + Come up with simple slogans: "Make every vote count"

    - Rick said that he would track down some riding maps so we can keep
    track of what we have canvassed.

POST-MEETING

   Paul learned that the Faculty of Social Work building will likely
   close at 6pm (!) in July and August! That means we probably have to
   find another location.


--
Paul Nijjar - http://www.fairvotecanada.org/WaterlooRegion
Next electoral reform info night: Tuesday May 8, 7pm