[fvc-wat-disc] Surplus not spent

[ARI DAIGEN]

I don't know how far that kind of money would go. But the thought of a 
referendum recap research project certainly crossed my mind. (Not one for 
*me* to carry out mind you--I'm still resting from my Master's!) To my mind, 
the most interesting study would be one examining *why* people who voted 
against the referendum did so. I suspect that "happy with the current 
system" would be at least matched by "didn't understand MMP", "didn't like 
the process", and "wanted a different type of electoral reform."

Obviously I haven't even fully conceptualized this, but I do think this 
would be a fascinating study, since so many pundits and politicians are 
claiming that this was a victory for the status quo. If even just a *third* 
of the people who voted against it would support electoral reform under 
different circumstances, that would mean 60% of the people supporting 
change!

Brian, do you know if Steven Brown or anyone else in LISPOP would be 
interested in such a thing? I'd do it myself, but unfortunately there's 
noone willing to pay me for that!

Anyways, that's *my* great idea that someone else can slave over.

Best,

Ari

>From: "Brian Tanguay" <btanguay at wlu.ca>
>Reply-To: FVC Waterloo Region Discussion 
><fvc-wat-disc at listserv.thinkers.org>
>To: <fvc-wat-disc at listserv.thinkers.org>
>Subject: Re: [fvc-wat-disc] Surplus not spent
>Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2007 19:29:59 -0400
>
>Hi all,
>
>Regarding leftover money: Anthony Piscitelli of LSPIRG phoned me this
>afternoon to ask whether we would be interested in (or able to)
>co-sponsoring a student to conduct a research project on the referendum.
>We mulled some ideas over and one that came to mind was to try to
>determine if the pro-MMP vote was higher in polls that were canvassed
>(or had literature drops) in this region than in those that had no
>contact. There should be some interesting ways of trying to test this,
>and Anthony thought that the project might cost around $1000 in total,
>to be shared by LSPIRG and us. It could lead to a publication or two for
>the student doing the research, which would be excellent for anyone
>planning on applying eventually to grad school.
>
>So, do you think we would have maybe $400 to devote to this project?
>Should we do something like this? I would vote yes, but then I'm an
>academic ...
>
>Anthony promised to send me some more information about this idea, and
>I'll forward it if you think it's something worth pursuing.
>
>Brian
>
>
>
> >>> kevedsmith at gmail.com 12/10/2007 1:05:02 pm >>>
>Hi folks:
>
>Bronwen (our CFO) has informed me that provincial didn't spend our
>surplus, aside from the $1350 they spent on radio ads.  Indeed, they
>had a surplus of their own.
>
>I would encourage everyone who's put a lot into this campaign to fill
>up their gas tank, and keep the receipt for possible reimbursement.
>
>Cambridge had an unexpected surplus which they're spending on
>thank-you ads.  Did we want to do something similar?
>
>Kevin.
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