This week, don’t miss the Open-Mic opportunity to address the Special Committee on Electoral Reform.
After a summer of listening to expert witnesses from Canada and around the world, the all-party committee on electoral reform (ERRE) has embarked on a national tour to hear from Canadians! The committee will deliver a recommendation for a new electoral system on December 1st, 2016 – legislation will be developed and presented back to the House of Commons in May, 2017.
As part of the decision making process, getting feedback from Canadians at these ERRE meetings is extremely important. This is our chance to show up and speak up for proportional representation! Opponents of reform are organizing and attending these events. We need to be there to let the ERRE committee know that Canadians support proportional representation!
If you can’t attend the open-mic sessions, you can follow the live proceedings here: http://parlvu.parl.gc.ca/XRender/en/View/Calendar/20160920/-1?device=
Plus, the Committee will be taking live questions via twitter. Please include the following hashtags: #ERRE #cdnpoli #voterequality
Important things to remember when addressing the Committee:
These 12 members have kept a gruelling schedule flying around the Country to talk to Canadians. Please thank them for their hard work!
- You will only have 2 minutes for your speech so plan ahead. You’ll have to be ready with your best elevator speech.
- Keep it personal. The Committee wants to know why this matters to you.
- Identify what’s wrong with first-past-the-post. Don’t forget all of the Canadians who cannot elect a winner (over 9,000,000 in the last election)!
- If you point to the research, explain why you think this will change with a PR system. We have to appeal to their sense of fairness and common sense.
You can read Fair Vote Canada’s submission to the ERRE committee here: http://www.fairvote.ca/fvc-submission-to-erre/
Also, please help us by sending the submission to your MP! https://fairvotecanada.good.do/tellyourmpthatyousupportpr/emailMP/
Thanks for caring about a fairer electoral system!
The #ERRE Committee Schedule for this week (September 26 – 30):
Monitor the schedule here.
Monday, September 26 – Whitehorse YT
Open to the Public
1:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. (PDT)
Whitehorse, Yukon
Coast High Country Inn & Yukon Convention Centre
4051. 4th Avenue
1:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.
• Kirk Cameron
• Peter Becker
3:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.
• David Brekke
• John Streicker
4:15 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Open Mic!
6:00 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.
• BYTE- Empowering Youth Society
• Shelby Maunder, Executive Director
• John Kenneth McKinnon, Former Senior Adviser on Electoral Reform, Yukon Government
• Élaine Michaud, Representative – New Democratic Party Yukon federal riding association
7:15 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Open Mic!
Tuesday, September 27 – Victoria BC
Open to the Public
4:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. (PDT)
Victoria, British Columbia
Harbour Towers Hotel and Suites
345 Quebec Street
4:00 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. • Panel 1
• Craig Henschel, – BC Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform
• Keith Archer, Member Elections BC, Chief Electoral Officer
6:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. • Panel 2
• Antony Hodgson – Fair Voting BC
• Diana Byford – BC Citizens Assembly
• Hon. John Duncan
7:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Open Mic!
Wednesday, September 28 – Vancouver BC
Open to the Public
1:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. (PDT)
Vancouver, British Columbia
Coast Hotel Plaza and Suites
1763 Comox Street
1:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. • Panel 1
• Nick Loenen
• Megan Dias, Graduate student, Department of Political Science, University of British Columbia
3:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. • Panel 2
• Christopher Kam, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of British Columbia
• Mario Canseco, Vice President, Public Affairs, Insights West
• Patrick Jeffery Jewell
4:15 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Open Mic!
6:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. • Panel 3
Barbara Simons
• Eline de Rooij
• Harley Lang
7:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Open Mic!
Thursday, September 29 – Leduc Alberta
Open to the Public
1:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. (MDT)
Leduc, Alberta
Renaissance Edmonton Airport Hotel
4236, 36th Street East
1:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. • Panel 1
• Roderick Wood, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Alberta
• Patricia Paradis, Executive Director, Centre for Constitutional Studies, University of Alberta
3:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. • Panel 2
• Doug Bailie (Former President and Founder of Fair Vote Canada)
• Sean Graham
• Joseph M Green, P.Eng., M. Eng.
4:15 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Open Mic!
6:00 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. • Panel 3
• David Blain, As an individual
• David Nash, Professor Emeritus, University of Alberta
7:15 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Open Mic!
Friday, September 30 – Yellowknife NWT
Open to the Public
1:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. (MDT)
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
Chateau Nova Yellowknife
4751 48th Street
3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. • Panel 1
• Andrew Robinson – Alternatives North
• Janaki Balakrishnan
• Louis Sebert
6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
To be determined
NEXT WEEK!
Monday, October 3 – Montreal QC
Tuesday, October 4 – Halifax NS
Wednesday, October 5 – St. John’s NL
Thursday, October 6 – Charlottetown PEI
Friday, October 7 – Fredericton NB
Monday, October 17 – Iqaluit NU
Common Canadians 
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