[fvc-wat-disc] Sept 8: KPL presentation

Fri Jul 29 12:31:33 EDT 2016

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Fair Vote Canada has a mandate to promote Proportional Representation.
If FVC or one of the local chapters is to organize an event, it will
be to promote Proportional Representation. If another organization
wants a panel to give equal time to non-Proportional systems then FVC
will participate to promote Proportional Representation, and that
other organization can find other participants to voice other views.

This is not merely my opinion, but stated in the Chapter Agreement of
Fair Vote Canada:

> At all times, the Chapter shall carry out activities which are
consistent with, and support the goals, objectives and activities of
FVC and with the Articles, By‑laws and Policies of FVC, as they exist
from time to time.

That's not just idle talk; Chapters have lost their Chapter status by
promoting views contrary to the goals and objectives of FVC.

That said, I'm quite happy to have a FairvoteWRC event at KPL; I do
think that our presentation gives a fair overview of non-proportional
systems. If KPL staff have doubts they can review the presentation at
http://www.fairvotewrc.ca/resources/presentation-make-every-vote-count/
And FairvoteWRC has hosted other events with speakers promoting
Alternative Vote, such as the PR vs. AV panel discussion in April:
http://www.fairvotewrc.ca/proportional-representation-vs-alternative-vote-youtube/

I've just noticed that the Chapter Agreement policy document and
others are not online; I'll work on putting them on the FairvoteWRC
Web site later today.

- --Bob
(Co-chair, Fair Vote Waterloo Region Chapter)

On 07/29/16 03:18, Paul Nijjar wrote:
> 
> (CCing to fvc-wat-disc. I do not know whether it will get through 
> because I do not know if the mailing list has been configured to
> work with Yahoo. But I will try.)
> 
> Okay, we are booked for a presentation at the Kitchener Public 
> Library.
> 
> I talked with the programming manager at the KPL over the phone
> today. She said that if I got a blurb to her by tomorrow then it
> could be included in the In Touch magazine. I just sent that blurb
> to her now (unfortunately in addition to being lazy my stomach
> started acting up this evening, and I have spent a lot of time
> lying low). Here is the blurb:
> 
> ----
> 
> Prime Minister Trudeau has promised to make "every vote count" in 
> future elections, and the process of electoral reform is currently 
> underway.  Why might the current electoral system benefit from
> reform? What electoral reforms are being considered? What are their
> advantages and disadvantages?  How is this electoral reform process
> structured? How can we participate in this process?
> Representatives from Fair Vote Canada will address these issues and
> take your questions.
> 
> ----
> 
> I also made a bunch of other promises and decisions that the
> Executive might not like. Here is a summary:
> 
> - The event will be held at the central branch of the library on 
> Thursday, Sept 8, from 7:00pm-8:30pm. (We also had the option of 
> Sept 1 or Sept 22, and I may have made the wrong choice.)
> 
> - We were originally booked for Meeting Room A, which holds 60
> people. I implied that we could get over 60 people to the event, so
> we are rebooked for a bigger room (maybe the auditorium? It is not
> clear). Now we have to keep that promise. If only 20 people show up
> we will look pretty bad.
> 
> - It sounds as if the KPL is more interested in a discussion of 
> different electoral systems, as well as non-electoral system
> options including mandatory voting and electronic voting. However,
> we should still cover the electoral reform process (the committee,
> Monsef's five principles, etc)
> 
> - This is a part that will be contentious: the KPL wants this 
> presentation to lean towards impartiality, with an honest
> discussion of pros in cons. They are not interested in having us
> advocate for one electoral system in particular, because they do
> not want to come across as being partisan in this issue. I warned
> the KPL that FVC tends to be unkind to FPTP and AV, but promised
> that I would try to steer the direction of the presentation more
> towards public information (Here is what is happening! Here are our
> options! Here are the advantages and disadvantages of each!) and
> less towards sermonizing (Proportional Representation is amazing
> and you are a stupidhead if you don't support it!). I have not seen
> Byron's presentation in a while, but I think that it is reasonably
> close to something that will make the KPL happy.
> 
> - The current format is looking like a 45-minute presentation
> followed by abundant Q&A. This format is not set in stone. In
> particular, if we wanted to put together a panel (with some
> representatives from Keep Voting Simple?) then that would be okay
> with the KPL too.
> 
> Managing Q&A is going to be tricky, because events like this
> attract people who like to ramble instead of asking questions.
> Maybe written questions are the way to go?
> 
> - The KPL can provide a projector. We will provide laptops and
> other equipment.
> 
> - We are allowed to have a booth outside the presentation if we
> want. (The KPL told us they will not give us their registration
> list, but that's fine and we were not expecting that anyways.) I am
> guessing we could invite LeadNow and other groups (Keep Voting
> Simple?) to have booths as well, but I do not know for sure.
> 
> 
> Next Steps ----------
> 
> - Figure out what format the presentation will take. It seems to
> me that Byron's presentation is adaptable if we use a presentation.
> If we want to put together a panel then FVC can be less
> even-handed, but the other panellists might be better at convincing
> people than we are.
> 
> - Figure out who will present. My guess is that the natural choice
> is Byron or Sean, since they have done this presentation before.
> There might be other good presenters available as well. I am also
> open to doing the presenting in the worst case. (Really? I am too
> anxious to staff a booth but I can present to a big audience? I
> guess my ego is really that huge.)
> 
> - Work towards getting a good turnout, especially amongst people
> who are not already voting nerds. KPL marketing will definitely
> help but we have work to do as well:
> 
> + If FVC makes some tweets or Facebook posts, can the rest of us 
> retweet/like/promote those items? (Sean says that Anita has a good 
> social network, so maybe we can exploit that.) + Can we personally
> invite friends, family and enemies to attend the presentation? + We
> should let LeadNow know that this presentation is happening. I can
> probably email Sylvie if she is not already on this list. + We can
> let people know this is happening via the announcement list.
> 
> I am sure there are other promotional ideas as well. We should not 
> rest on our laurels about this.
> 
> - We should not stop here. Having one prominent organization agree
> to host a talk is good leverage for convincing others. We should
> reach out to the libraries again. It would also be great to hit up
> service clubs (Rotarians, Lions Club), co-ops (we have had good
> success with housing co-ops in the past), church groups, and maybe
> even the remaining electoral district associations (even the
> Conservatives!).
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 
- -- 

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