PROPOSAL: Community-organized 'All Candidates Meetings'

in ridings around the province prior to the election


Proposal from: Council of Canadians – Fredericton Chapter

To: All NBEN member and associate groups and all interested individuals

We are asking groups and individuals to host all-candidates meetings in their ridings. This is easy to do!

Citizen engagement is the key to these meetings, where the citizens in the audience ask the questions. The public meetings provide constituents with an opportunity to publicly ask questions of their MLA candidates on issues which concern them. These meetings will be citizen-led and non-partisan.

These meetings are extremely easy to organize. We simply need an individual, a community group, or a union to book a venue in their riding for the first week of September.  Invitations would then be delivered or e-mailed to all the candidates [see sample letter below that was used in Fredericton South] at least two to three [2-3] months in advance of the meeting.

For the meeting, only one moderator is necessary to introduce the candidates, and also to keep track of the time limit that candidates have to answer each question from the audience. A donation jar can be circulated at the meeting to pay for the cost of the venue plus advertising posters.

Here is the simple outline of the meeting:

• At the start of the meeting each candidate will have 3 minutes to introduce himself/herself to the audience.

• Following these introductions, the main portion of the meeting will give an opportunity for constituents to ask questions directly from the floor.

• After each question, each candidate will have 2 minutes to respond.

• At the end of the meeting, each candidate will have 2 minutes to address the public with closing remarks.


The best time for the meeting in each riding would be the 1st week in September, after people return from vacation, and before the advance polling starts. According to the Elections New Brunswick website - FAQ Information, it says that "The first advance polling day is 9 days prior to the election. The second advance polling day is the Monday, 7 days prior to the election." This means that the advance polling for the Sept. 22nd election will start sometime in the 2nd week of September.


Where possible, we would like to have All Candidates meetings broadcast live [live streamed] on the Internet. Each meeting would be saved and archived on YouTube for future viewing, to allow as many people as possible an opportunity to view proceedings and hear the candidates’ positions on the issues.


SAMPLE INVITATION ONLY


April 30, 2014 

                                                                           

To [MLA Candidates in Fredericton South]:



RE:  INVITATION TO ‘MEET THE CANDIDATES Q&A’, THURSDAY, SEPT. 04, 2014


As citizen organizers of the Voice Of The People tour, we are pleased to offer a valuable opportunity for all candidates in the upcoming provincial election to engage and interact with their constituents.  Meet the Candidates Q&A town hall meetings will be organized for a number of ridings around New Brunswick, where candidates from each political party will have the opportunity to present their positions prior to the elections.  These citizen-led meetings will be non-partisan and described as a “Meet the Candidates Q&A – A Town Hall Meeting”.


For Fredericton South, the Meet the Candidates Q&A will be held on September 4, 2014 at Christ Church Memorial Hall, 168 Church Street from 7:00-9:00 pm.  This event will be well advertised in advance as a chance for the public to clarify each candidate’s perspective on a variety of issues, to better inform their decision later that month in the provincial election.


This is a formal invitation for you, as the announced candidates for Fredericton South, to attend and participate in this debate.  Invitations will go out to all other candidates for Fredericton South when they are announced.


At the start of the meeting each candidate will have 3 minutes to introduce himself/herself to the audience.  Following these introductions, the main portion of the meeting will give an opportunity for constituents to ask questions directly from the floor.  After each question, each candidate will have 2 minutes to respond.  At the end of the meeting, each candidate will have 2 minutes to address the public with closing remarks.


All candidates are asked to confirm attendance at this event by May 15, 2014 by sending a reply to[Email Address].  We trust that you will appreciate the generous lead time to prepare for this event.



Respectfully,

____________

Fredericton NB
Member Council of Canadians-Fredericton Chapter
Constituent Fredericton South


Print friendly version - English
http://nben.ca/en/get-involved/action-alerts/item/download/122_f8d61ef9633b7f24ad5518d665827564

Print friendly version - French
http://nben.ca/en/get-involved/action-alerts/item/download/123_d89eb9485acb1b42501e2d9b3eceebd6

Have you checked out the changes to the provincial election ridings? The CBC has a link to a great mapwhich will show you any riding in the province – as it is now and as it is proposed to be. The Electoral Boundaries and Representation Commission is currently holding public meetings and accepting comments on its proposal. There has been back-lash from some small communities across New Brunswick who feel that the new boundaries do not respect their community ties.

From my point of view, it seems that our democratic institutions are being steadily eroded. Alex Himelfarb,a former Clerk of the Privy Council, has written a great commentaryon how we are moving from a democratic society to a market society and “bargain basement citizenship.”

The Canadian Labour Congress has just published its report, “What Did Corporate Tax Cuts Deliver?” In 2011, January 20^th was “Corporate Tax Freedom Day.” By that date, corporations had already had enough income to cover their share of provincial and federal taxes for the rest of the year. Corporations also managed to hoard $72 billion more in 2011 than the previous year.

And the proof of all of this is in the pudding. In October 2012, “How are Canadians Really Doing?” was published by the Canadian Index of Well Being Network out of the University of Waterloo. The index measures eight factors of well-being such as environment, education, leisure and living standards. The findings in this report show that “from 1994 to 2010, while Canada’s GDP grew by a robust 28.9%, improvements in Canadians’ well-being grew by a considerably smaller 5.7%. Despite years of prosperity, our economic growth has not translated into similarly significant gains in our overall quality of life. Even more concerning is the considerable backslide Canadians have experienced since 2008. Following the recession of 2008, Canada’s GDP dropped by 8.3%, but shows signs of slow recovery in 2010. In contrast, the impact of the recession on the CIW was a stunning 24% declineand shows no such sign of recovery to even the modest gains made up to 2008.”

If you are interested in ongoing discussions about democracy in Canada, the Samara Institute has just released a report on the House of Commons and how well they are doing in addressing the priorities of Canadians. This month they are also hosting a blog series “Redesigning Parliament”.

Voice of the People Tour kick-off
Delta Hotel Fredericton - March 20 2014

Who are we?Firstly, the Voice of the People Tour is being organized by concerned citizens through various community organizations: the Council of Canadians, the New Brunswick Anti Shale Gas Alliance, the Fredericton District Labour Council and Unifor. We are working together to bring these important issues to the people in our communities.

The Voice of the People Tour will be coming to communities in every corner of the province. We want to hear your voice!

The purpose of our tour is to provide public education about shale gas and clean energy.

We will be asking the people in our communities:

• • Do we know everything we need to about shale gas?
• • Is shale gas the only way to create jobs?
• • What do you want in your backyard?

VOICE OF THE PEOPLE TOUR: Red Dot Poll Results Summary for Belledune, April 9, 2014

Belledune April 9, 2014 Red Dot Poll results:


1) We need to protect our water above all else.


2) Belledune should pass a 10 year moratorium on shale. 


3) Map aquifers


4) (tie)

- Ask politicians the hard questions

- Government must classify our waterways

1(tie) 

-First nations: "You will not be bringing this(shale gas) to our territories" 

-Don't forget about the Pipelines


2(tie) 

- Don't vote Red or Blue- any colour but that.

- Take our province back, take our government back.

- Take corporations out of politics

- Look to areas that have succeeded in transitioning to a new way of thinking


3 - Treaties protect us all


4(tie)

- True consultation with First Nations

- Let's focus on what we want versus what we don't want.


5 - Demand a moratorium on fracking