[GREN-Exec] Environmental Questionnaire

Thu Apr 7 11:42:11 EDT 2011

Time is short.  We have to draw up a questionnaire and then send it out and then I guess we do something with it, but I'm not sure what.  I suspect the candidates' answers will all come out rosy and smelling like fresh dew on the grass in the spring.  I don't think we would reach many people this way and there may be too much work involved.

I think it would be better if we put our heads together and committed ourselves to some of the following:

1.  Make sure we have someone at as many of the all candidates' meetings as possible to ask questions, and also possibly hand out a very short GREN statement on some key environmental issues (eg, the Harper gov't's sabotage of Kyoto and inaction on climate change,  tar sands, water issues,....)

2.  Set up a roster to write letters to the editor of the Record and Waterloo Chronicle, and perhaps second opinion pieces.

3.  Do some exploration of the cyber- and blogosphere and put together a short list of key sites, preferably with some focus on our Region, where the more eloquently yakky and persuasive of us might like to dive into discussions and debates.

4.  Send even as few as three or four people out with placards to the entrances of venues of party leaders' rallies and visits.  Those events are pretty boring and the press are just dying to find something different to report on.  We would have to be very clever so that what we do and say is colourful, humorous, sly, and 1000% more interesting than what is going on at the controlled "rallies".  I've done this a few times and it is surprising how the hungry media go for it.  Once in Saskatchewan we managed to boost the issue of a stinky, polluting and heavily government-subsidized pulp mill to dominate the election campaign. We set  up a mobile booth that was a facsimile of an old-fashioned snake-oil huckster's stand for selling cure-all remedies and handed out little vials of the effluent from the mill, or simply asked people to come forward and have a whiff from a big bottle of particularly smelly effluent that we labeled as the government's environmental policy and asked them for their opinion.  We were delighted by the number of people who stopped to listen and participate, and were buoyed by the laughs we got as we parodied the premier dispensing snake oil.

5.  Put up your own hand-crafted sign in your front yard and have a little pocket on it with your own statement on environmental issues.  I've done this a couple of times and found that people did take my leaflet and either read it on the spot or put it in their pocket and walk on.  Make sure the sign is a good one. Once when the Reform Party was running a strong candidate named Peter Doig I went to Canadian Tire and spent $2.49 on a "Beware of the Dog" sign, added an ^ with an I above it between the O and the G, wrote "BE CAREFUL - VOTE WISELY" below it and nailed it to our lovely silver maple beside the front sidewalk.  I got some very amused comments from passersby.

6.  What are your ideas?

By the way, I wouldn't mind being included earlier in such email discussions.  I don't like "reply-all" when it is simply a matter such as one person telling one other that he will arrive at the meeting at 15 to 7, but do wish to be included in substantive group matters.

- Greg Michalenko

________________________________
From: executive-bounces at gren.ca [executive-bounces at gren.ca] on behalf of John Jackson [jjackson at web.ca]
Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2011 9:36 AM
To: GREN Executive
Subject: [GREN-Exec] FW: Environmental Questionnaire

Thoughts please on the question of whether we should do an election questionnaire. See comments below.

John

--
John Jackson
17 Major Street
Kitchener, Ontario N2H 4R1
519-744-7503

------ Forwarded Message
From: Kevin Thomason <kevinthomason at mac.com<UrlBlockedError.aspx>>
Date: Thu, 07 Apr 2011 09:28:11 -0400
To: Deb Swidrovich <deswid at gmail.com<UrlBlockedError.aspx>>
Cc: Susan Koswan <dandelion at gto.net<UrlBlockedError.aspx>>, John Jackson <jjackson at web.ca<UrlBlockedError.aspx>>
Subject: Re: Environmental Questionnaire

Deb,

Good question.  I think it is only worth doing if we can actually get some media attention with it - i.e. profile for GREN and knowledge that our efforts might make a difference.  I worry at this point the candidates are so far into the campaign and there is only three weeks until May 2nd that they won't have time to answer it and by the time we get any answers back we won't have much time to do anything with it.

I'll cc some other folks here and see what they think.  Did it come up at the meeting last night at all?

Kevin.

----------------------------

On 2011-04-07, at 5:39 AM, Deb Swidrovich wrote:

Hi Kevin:

FYI -- our 2008 questionnaire.  I guess we should be doing questions soon.  What do you think?

Deb
519-746-8403

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John Jackson <jjackson at web.ca<UrlBlockedError.aspx>>
Date: Sun, Sep 21, 2008 at 11:38 AM
Subject: FW: Environmental Questionnaire
To: 7gn at 7generations.net<UrlBlockedError.aspx>

At our GREN meeting Thursday evening we decided to send out a questionnaire
to the election candidates.

The message below has also been sent to the candidates for Kitchener Centre,
Kitchener-Conestoga [except the NDP candidate. If you have contact
information for that candidate please send it to me.], Cambridge, and
Guelph. If you think it should go to any other ridings, let me know. If you
want another riding added, please send me contact info for those candidates.

Thanks to David Wellhauser and Deb Swidrovich for pulling this together.

John
--
John Jackson
17 Major Street, Kitchener, Ontario N2H 4R1
519-744-7503 <tel:519-744-7503>
Fax: 519-744-1546 <tel:519-744-1546>

------ Forwarded Message
From: John Jackson <jjackson at web.ca<UrlBlockedError.aspx>>
Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2008 10:48:49 -0400
To: <andrew at kw.igs.net<UrlBlockedError.aspx>>, <info at peterbraid.ca<UrlBlockedError.aspx>>, <info at cindyjacobsen.ca<UrlBlockedError.aspx>>,
<cathy at votecathy.ca<UrlBlockedError.aspx>>
Subject: Environmental Questionnaire

Dear Candidates in Kitchener-Waterloo Riding

The Grand River Environment Network (GREN) is a network of citizens’ groups
and individuals dedicated to protecting and restoring the Grand River
watershed. The federal government has a critical role to play in protecting
and enhancing the environment.

We have put together a questionnaire with 13 questions of concerns about the
environment in the Grand River watershed. Please return your answers to
these questions to us by Friday October 3. Please send them to my e-mail
address or to the address below.

Thank you in advance for providing this information to us. After October 3,
in addition to sending your answers to our members, we will be making this
information available to the media in the area.

We look forward to working with you over the coming years.

John Jackson
Chair, Grand River Environment Network

--
John Jackson
17 Major Street, Kitchener, Ontario N2H 4R1
519-744-7503 <tel:519-744-7503>
Fax: 519-744-1546 <tel:519-744-1546>

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<GREN Candidate Questions.doc><GREN Candidate Questions.doc>

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