[GREN-Exec] Federal Environmental Election Forum

Mon Jun 17 16:53:30 EDT 2019

I think a  forum would be a good thing, but should be held just at the riding level.  If we do all 4 Region ridings that means we would have to hear from at least 16 people who would only get a couple of minutes each.  We'd get the usual pat media statements from each of them.

A real forum means providing enough time for a reasonable address by each (7-10 minutes) and then a chance to answer questions from the attendees (and/or a panel) and also interact with each other.

The last municipal event exhausted me - there were just too many people who had to be heard.

Could it also be carried live on-line?

The way to handle candidates who try to escape being in attendance is to have an empty chair with their name on it right among those who candidate who do come out. I was also once at an event where one of the key speakers was denied entry to Canada.  The organizers got him to tape an address, and when it came to his turn, they wheeled out a monitor on a cart and and we got to listen to him after all.  Sometimes a candidate can't be there for a good reason and such a set up would be a fair gesture.  I saw that happen at Cambridge council when we were trying to defend having a new community garden in a park.  It was opposed by a thoroughly nasty group of neighbours.  A key advocate for gardens in Cambridge is a genial police officer who put in a community garden in the yard of the precinct office; young offenders often put in their community service requirements there..  He had to be out of town but provided a video clip and his message carried the day for us.

- Greg

________________________________
From: Executive <executive-bounces at gren.ca> on behalf of Kevin Thomason <kevinthomason at mac.com>
Sent: Monday, June 17, 2019 4:27:38 PM
To: Susan Koswan
Cc: Mary Jane Patterson; connect at holdthelinewr.org; stephanie.sobek-swant at raresites.org; marcia at alternativesjournal.ca; hello at wrenvironetwork.ca; GREN Executive; Tova Davidson
Subject: Re: [GREN-Exec] Federal Environmental Election Forum

Hi Susan,

Excellent proactive planning!  Indeed, I think that the last Environmental Election Forum was well attended by citizens as well as candidates and was very successful.  I think that it would be nice to get more media coverage of the event - both before and after to help ensure that the broader public has a greater knowledge of the environmental issues and the best candidates.

I think that the location worked well however we may need a place that could accommodate more attendees if there is a lot of interest.  I’m not sure how much the higher profile and simplicity of a federal election will help compared to the municipal elections and quantity of local candidates the event had to accommodate the last time.

In answer to your questions, I do believe that we should try to do it again, perhaps we align with this date and organization if you can learn more, we have a successful format and approach, and it appears that many important leaders/groups are included on this e-mail.  I think that we should also try to work hard to ensure Conservative candidates are present and held to account - not just simply absent and ignoring our community.

Keep moving forward from my perspective and let us know how we can best help.

Cheers,
Kevin.

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

Kevin Thomason

1115 Cedar Grove Road
Waterloo, Ontario Canada  N2J 3Z4

Phone: (519) 888-0519
Mobile Phone/WhatsApp: (519) 240-1648
Twitter: @kthomason
E-mail: kevinthomason at mac.com<mailto:kevinthomason at mac.com>

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On Jun 17, 2019, at 1:57 PM, Susan Koswan <susankoswan at execulink.com<mailto:susankoswan at execulink.com>> wrote:

Hi Everyone,

It's not too early to start thinking about and planning an Environmental Election Forum. I've included all of you from the 2018 Municipal election and attached the handout we sent to all the candidates. If you're interested in doing this again for the Federal election, let me know.

I found this on-line - not sure who is behind it - but they're trying to get 100 eco-election forums on the same date, Monday October 7, 2019. I contacted them to get more info because the website has almost nothing.  https://www.100debates.ca/

As a reminder, we have held ours at Walter Fedy on Queen St in Kitchener, inviting all the candidates running in Waterloo, giving them each 2-3 minutes by riding, and providing coffee tea snacks in the outside area where people can mingle and speak directly.

Questions:

1) do we do this again?

2) do we align with this org'n?

3) if so, same format or suggested improvements?

4) any other groups we want to bring in?

5) something else we could do?

Thanks

Susan Koswan

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