[fvc-wat-disc] Hillside festival

[Paul Nijjar]

 	I discovered that the Hillside festival (a pretty huge music 
festival near Guelph) is accepting applications for their "Community 
Tent". The details and application are available at:

http://hillsidefestival.ca/page.php?id=63

 	Although not as diverse a crowd as the Multicultural festival, 
Hillside is still pretty huge. I have written out the following 
application. Please suggest improvements to it. I would like to send it 
out within the next few days (the deadline is May 21, so it can't wait 
until our meeting).

----

 	Please consider a position for Fair Vote Canada at this years 
Hillside festival.

 	1. The name of our organization is Fair Vote Canada -- Waterloo 
Region. We don't have a physical address, but I could get you a mailing 
address of one of our executive members if you want. You can contact me 
via e-mail, or you can get in touch with our co-chair:

 	Brian Tanguay, btanguay at wlu.ca, 519.747.9185 (home), 519.884.0710 
(work)

 	2. Fair Vote Canada is a multi-partisan national citizens campaign 
promoting fair voting systems for use in elections at all levels. The 
Waterloo Region chapter promotes public awareness of electoral reform 
issues locally (mostly Waterloo Region, but also a little bit in Guelph.)
Currently we are raising awareness of the upcoming provincial referendum 
on proportional representation scheduled for this October 10.

         3. It may seem odd to pitch an electoral reform display for a tent 
that focuses on community development and sustainability, but in fact 
there are some strong ties: proportional systems tend to empower voters 
and elect governments that are more in tune with the wishes of the 
electorate. Electing good governments is hugely important in getting the 
kind of legislation we need to build a more sustainable and socially just 
future, but our current voting system does not do a good job of this.

The referendum on October 10 is a huge opportunity to improve the
responsiveness of government in a concrete way -- but in order to win
the referendum we need to spread the word, which is where a table at
Hillside would come into play.

 	4. If accepted for a booth, we would bring a display board and 
some literature about the referendum, the proposed voting system, and why 
we need change.

 	5. I do not think we will require a vehicle to bring our materials 
to the island.

 	6. As far as I know we have no special needs. We will be talking 
with people and explaining the system, but that is no different than any 
other community group.

 	Thank you for considering our application. If you have any 
questions please let me know.

--
Paul Nijjar - http://www.fairvotecanada.org/WaterlooRegion
Next electoral reform info night: Tuesday June 12, 7pm