[fvc-wat-disc] Notes from FVWR discussion meeting of 31 July 2019

[Cathy Scott]

Hi, All,
Here are the n*otes from FV Waterloo Chapter meeting on July 31, 2019.*
*Please note the details of our next regular meeting on Aug. 28.  Some
people have responded.  Please continue to RSVP.*
*Also, a reminder of  the additional 'strategy meeting' on Mon. Aug. 28th,
at my house at 7:00 pm.  *
*Cathy*

*Updates:*
1.  The group was advised of an article by Geoffrey Stevens, about Dave
Meslin's recent book, 'Rebuilding Democracy from the Ground Up',  which
presents lots of good ideas about making our democracy better.  For those
of you who don't know Dave Meslin, he has been active with groups promoting
PR, and with the 'Yes' campaign for the city of Cambridge, to win the
referendum to adopt rank ballots for future municipal elections in
Cambridge.

2.  This meeting was held in the new meeting space available through the
establishment of the 'Civic Hub', which is at St. John's the Evangelist
Church in downtown Kitchener.  Meeting space is provided for community
groups.  There is a rental fee, which may be paid in dollars, or by
providing service 'in kind'.

3.  This wasn't reported at the meeting, but I think you will all be
interested to know that our effort at manning information tables a 4
festivals, during June and July, has gained us about *250 signatures on our
new petition to the federal government*, asking for electoral reform and
the establishment of a Citizens' Assembly to determine the best electoral
system for Canada
We are grateful to Terry Henderson, who  has volunteered to enter the 80
new email addresses we received at the festivals, into the FV database.
These new emails will mean that 80 more people will receive information
updates from FV Canada and will help to spread awareness of the PR issue.

Sharon had composed an agenda for the meeting.  Items and discussion are as
follows:

1.   *All Candidates Meetings  *

   - The Social  Development Centre is probably not going to sponsor such a
   meeting for this election.
   - It was decided that we would contact some partner groups to see
   whether they are interested in working with us to organize/sponsor a
   meeting:  Sharon will contact GREN, the Alliance Against Poverty, the
   Healthcare Coalition.  Cathy will contact Basic Income WR, Animal Save and
   Climate Save

2.    *Visiting  Liberal MPs about supporting Citizens'  Assembly*

   - Terry Henderson, Sharon Sommerville and Anita have offered  will meet
   with Bardish to present the info brochure on CAs that FV Canada has
   provided.  Bardish has expressed support for this idea in the past.
   - Cathy Scott, Jim Sannes offered to meet with Raj Saini.  It would be
   helpful to have others from our group, who live in Ktchener Centre, to
   also attend this meeting.  *Please let Cathy Scott know if you are able
   to attend a meeting with Raj.*
   - there is an excellent   webinar about Citizens' Assemblies posted on
   the FV website.  It describes CAs and their success in finding
   solutions/policies for issues in other jurisdictions, such as in Ireland.

3.     *Meeting with  Michael Belegas of the NDP*

   - meeting at Queen's Park on Thursday Aug. 8 to discuss NDP support for
   PR.  Various representatives from FV chapters will attend, including
   Jonathan Cassels from WR.

4.     *Request from FV Guelph to collaborate*

   - Susan Watson of FV Guelph has asked about meeting with us regarding a
   joint effort to organize public meetings in Guelph and KW, on some aspect
   of electoral reform
   - the purpose of the event would be to offer information promote
   electoral reform in the community
   - a panel experts would be invited to talk about the topic, which is to
   be determined.
   - it was suggested that such an event might be part of the FV AGM and
   that we should ask that next year's AGM be held in the Guelph/KW area.

5.   *Video Project*

   - Michael Masurkevich wants to produce videos about,  "What motivates
   you to take political action"  ..... and is seeking input/ support from  FV
   .  He may contact FV about this.

6.   *Door-to-Door Campainging*

   - we discussed doing door-to-door in the coming year, rather than
   attending tables at festivals.
   - those who watched the webinar on messaging for the PR campaign, felt
   that there were very good ideas;   to focus on the moral and emotional
   aspects of electoral reform, rather than the 'rational' argument.  This
   webinar is available at PR4PR at yahoo.com, for anyone who wants to watch
   it.

7.    *Next Meeting*

   - next meeting will be on Wed. Aug. 28th
   - the meeting will be a potluck barbeque at the home of Cathy and John
   Scott.
   - address:  213 Sheldon Ave., North, Kitchener (near Weber and Ottawa
   Streets).  The house is at the corner of Fairmount Rd. and Sheldon Ave. and
   the front door faces Fairmount.
   - phone:  519 576-5676
   - We will barbeque hot dogs and hamburgers
   - Please bring other stuff:  salads, desserts, appetizers, etc.
   - Please RSVP, so we know how many people to plan for.


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