1:00pm at Carl Zehr Square at Kitchener City Hall confirmed!Map 1
WHY?
Justin Trudeau promised that 2015 would be the last First-Past-The-Post election and that the Liberals would introduce electoral reform legislation within 18 months. He promised to Make Every Vote Count.
Justin Trudeau a promis que 2015 serait la dernière élection menée sous le mode de scrutin uninominal à un tour. Il promettait aussi de faire en sorte que Chaque Vote Compte et que le gouvernement libéral légiférerait la réforme électorale dans les premiers 18 mois de son mandat.
On Wednesday, February 1, 2017, the Liberals abandoned that pledge. We urgently need to band together and tell our parliamentarians that we expect them to be true to their word and we want ELECTORAL REFORM NOW!
Le 1 février 2017, le gouvernement libéral abandonnait cette promesse. Il est urgent que les citoyens et citoyennes se mobilisent pour dire à nos parlementaires que nous attendons d’eux qu’ils tiennent leur parole et que nous demandons LA RÉFORME ÉLECTORALE DÈS MAINTENANT!
Please join us on February 11, 2017 on Parliament Hill and across the country to show your support for Electoral Reform!
Joignez-vous à nous le 11 février sur la colline parlementaire et partout au pays pour manifester votre appui pour la réforme électorale.
Shortly after the ERRE Committee submitted its report, the Honourable Maryam Monsef was relieved of her position as Minister of Democratic Institutions in a cabinet shuffle. An even younger rookie MP was elevated to the Minister of Democratic Institutions position.
Our electoral system is foundational to our democracy. At its core, is a question of how we, as Canadians, govern ourselves.Our government believes that time was needed to consult Canadians about this complex issue. Our view has always been clear. Major reforms to the electoral system, changes of this magnitude, should not be made if they lack the broad support of Canadians.
Public consultations came in many forms. Members of Parliament were encouraged to hold Town Halls, to hear the views of their constituents. My predecessor travelled throughout the country visiting every province and territory, to host similar Town Halls on behalf of the government.
An All Party Special Committee of the House of Commons worked long hours and in December produced a thorough report that documents the many complexities of electoral reform.
In recent weeks, more than 360,000 Canadians participated in mydemocracy.ca to provide their insight into our democratic values.
Now, following all of these consultations, it has become clear that Canadians have a range of views about whether to continue using the current First Past The Post system to elect MPs to the House of Commons.
We respect and thank all those who have come forward to participate in these discussions. It has informed our decision. And it has become evident that the broad support needed among
Canadians for a change of this magnitude does not exist.
[en francais]
Therefore, my mandate letter states a clear preference for a new electoral system, let alone a consensus, has not emerged.
Furthermore, without a clear preference or a clear question a referendum would not be in Canada’s Interest.
Changing the electoral system is not in my mandate.
We have listened to all Canadians in this debate.
To Canadians who cherish their democracy and who value the direct connection they have with their Member of Parliament.
Canadians want their Parliamentarians to work with each other and to cooperate on policy.
They want their government to be accountable.
They want their MPs to act in the interest of their constituents.
We agree.
My job is to strengthen and protect our democratic institutions and ensure they represent the values of Canadians. We are moving to accomplish that mandate.
Can we afford not to implement electoral reform? Long term planning doesn’t often happen in winner-take-all systems. That’s part of why Canada is so far behind the curve in green tech, public transit, climate change, eliminating poverty etc.
Even when we do get good policy chances are good it won’t last through policy lurch.
GUELPH Rally for Proportional Representation
Guelph City Hall 1PM
Rally organised by Fair Vote Guelph https://www.facebook.com/events/1852627561618419/
MP Longfield acknowledges that recent poll results in Guelph in support of
Proportional Representation are valid.
We need visible support at the rally to show our government that we want PR.
Please come to the Rally for PR on Sunday at Guelph City Hall at to support a fair open and transparent Democratic process .
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Wednesday February 8th, 2017 Call-Blitz and Tweet-Storm
* All Day *
Contact:
your local MP,
the Prime Minister’s Office and
Karina Gould
Respectfully express your opinion, tell them we’ll #seeyousaturday
Saturday February 11, 2017 NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION
Canada Wide Protest
Be LOUD ~ Be HEARD.
Cross Canada Protest Times
Atlantic 15:00 Eastern 14:00 Central 13:00 Mountain/SK 12:00 Pacific 11:00 @JustinTrudeau and the #LPC promised that 2015 would be our last #FPTP election. #PerformOnReform https://www.facebook.com/events/885031191552272/
We can also call or write our Waterloo Region Liberal MPs
The Green Party doesn’t have a massive “war chest.” We don’t have corporate or union donors and the big advertising budgets they bring.
Our strength is in our grass roots… ordinary Canadians who think green thoughts. People who want a greener future. Not just for us, but for our kids. And posterity.
What we do have is ideas. Ideas worked out by members. Ideas expressed in policy, blogs, and multimedia. Because the Green Party doesn’t have big advertising budgets, it is very hard to get green ideas reported in Main Stream Media (MSM).
But we can get our ideas out there— if we work together.
You can help these ideas take root and grow by sharing them with your social media network.
Some people hesitate about sharing links to articles & videos. We worry that talking about politics online will alienate our family and friends. Let’s face it: we all have family and friends with different ideas. Some support other parties, and certainly many — probably even most — don’t support any party or even consider themselves political.
The Internet is old enough that it’s easy to forget the reason it exists is to make it easy to exchange information.
Social Media is for sharing our interests with our family and friends. Maybe you’re a Green Party member, supporter, or even voter. But maybe you’re not, maybe you don’t like the Green Party candidate in your riding, maybe you don’t agree with everything in Green Party policy. But chances are good that anyone reading this is interested in at least some green ideas.
If we each share one green idea, article, or video on social media each day, we aren’t likely to alienate anyone. Especially as Facebook and Twitter have taken to limiting which of our posts our friends and family actually see. The beauty of social media sharing is that there is no need to argue or try to convert anyone. By sharing articles that resonate with us, we’re giving our friends and family an opportunity to learn what’s important to us — very often information they won’t see in the MSM. If they aren’t interested, they won’t read that article or watch that video. But maybe they will.
Even if they just skip over that Tweet or Facebook post, the fact you’ve shared it increases how far Twitter or Facebook will share. Even if our family and friends don’t read our blog articles, or look at our videos, or look at our graphics, you’ll help WRGreens increase our “Google juice” just by sharing.
Especially in a world where the first official act of the new American president was to take down the American Government Climate Change page, it becomes more and more evident we can no longer afford a way of life that puts corporate interests ahead of the public interest. We can’t put profits ahead of clean air and fresh water. So please, help us make social media work for us.
Introducing the WRGreens YouTube Channel. Until recently the only thing we’ve had are playlists, mostly of WRGreens video online from previous elections.
But in December I made WRGreens very first short video about the GPC SGM adoption of the Indigenous suite of policy.
And I’ve also just posted a video of Bob Jonkman (Kitchener-Conestoga) presenting the round table report at the Waterloo Region Basic Income Pilot Consultation in Waterloo Region.
While it’s good the Provincial Liberals have expressed the intention of piloting Basic Income, it is important to engage as much as possible. Done right, the evidence shows Basic Income would actually save the government money, in both direct (less bureaucracy) and indirect (healthier, better educated and more productive citizens), there is a very real concern that instead of doing it right, they’ll try to amplify the direct savings by making the basic Income amount too low, or making other cuts, to public housing, say.
If you haven’t already, please complete the online Basic Income Pilot Consultation survey (and encourage others to do so as well) — and be sure to recommend Waterloo Region as a pilot site! Basic Income Waterloo Region has some compelling reasons why Waterloo Region would be an excellent Pilot choice.
There are several important events coming up in the new year that may be of interest to Waterloo Region Greens. Our calendar will keep you up to date on any WRGreens events, as well as events put on by other organizations that may be of interest to local Greens.
Provincial Basic Income Consultation
Friday January 13th, 2017
6:30 – 9:00pm
Kitchener City Hall
200 King Street West
Kitchener, ON
N2G 4G7
Basic Income Waterloo meets with Richard Walsh and Bob Jonkman at the Waterloo Greens Office during the 2015 election
“Basic income is an idea which provides a different approach to income security and reducing poverty,” the statement said. “It’s important we hear as many views as possible to ensure we get this right.”
The ministry says it’s particularly interested in thoughts about how the pilot program is designed, including who should be eligible, which communities to include, and how it will be evaluated.
“What they’re doing is trying to collect information in order to build a position. It’s very difficult (for us) to take a firm position at this point because we don’t actually know what the province is going to end up doing,” Bartholomew-Saunders said. “They’re collecting information to determine what they’re going to be doing.”
Guaranteed Livable Income was an important part of the 2015 GPC platform, and remains as party policy, so we are pleased to see the Ontario Liberals proceed with this program. The danger is that it could actually make Ontario poverty conditions worse if implemented badly.
Any Green Party member (in good standing) is welcome to attend GPC Federal Council Meetings online. The next meeting will be on Sunday, January 22nd from 6 to 8 pm EST.
Saturday, January 28th, 2017
10:30am – 1:00pm Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School
787 King St W,
Kitchener, ON N2G 1E3
Bring your gently used, clean clothes that you don’t want any more and leave with new (to you) stuff! We will be accepting donations beginning at 10:30am, event starts at 11. The event is COMPLETELY FREE and aims to raise awareness about textile waste and how our clothes affect the environment. No under garments or lingerie accepted please! There is free parking available at the KCI lot, just off King Street. Public transit also available via route 7 from Uptown Waterloo. You can swap men’s wear, women’s wear, kids clothes, jackets, shoes and accessories. Please share this invite with your family and friends. No tears or stains. Just bring items you would bring home. Our past clothing swaps have been featured on CBC, CTV, and various newspapers and magazines within the Waterloo Region.
If you or someone you know is interested in helping out at the event please send an email to events@trustedclothes.com.
There is free parking available at the KCI lot, just off King Street. Public transit is also available via route 7 from Uptown Waterloo.
[Note: the school was formerly Kitchener Collegiate Institute, and is still known locally as KCI]
Waterloo Region joins the National Day of Action for Electoral Reform
The 
Friday January 13th, 2017
Finally, there is the online vote to ratify the policy adopted at the December 
wrgreens 