Waterloo Region Greens own Bob Jonkman will be presenting “Make every Vote Count” at the Elmira Branch of the Region of Waterloo Library, starting at 6:30pm, tomorrow night, Wednesday, September 21st, 2016. In his capacity as co-Chair, Bob helped develop the Fair Vote Waterloo presentation, which starts with our existing electoral system as well as Canada’s electoral reform options. There will be a question and answer session after the presentation.
Hope to see you there!
Next week there will be two more Information Sessions at the Region of Waterloo Libraries in New Hamburg and Ayr.
Wednesday, September 28th, 2016 ~ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
“For the past month I’ve been traveling across Canada hearing from Canadians directly on the values and expectations they feel should be reflected in Canada’s electoral system.
At every stop, it is clear; Canadians expect greater inclusion, transparency, engagement and modernization from their public institutions.”
— The Hon. Maryam Monsef,
Minister of Democratic Institutions ~ Ottawa, ON, Sept. 15, 2016
Hundreds of Waterloo Region residents crowded into the Stanley Park Community Centre on Wednesday night for a chance to participate in the Federal Electoral Reform Consultation with the the Honourable Maryam Monsef, the Minister of Democratic Institutions. Ms. Monsef shared the stage with local LPC Mps, the Honourable Bardish Chagger, Bryan May, Marwan Tabbara and Kitchener Centre host, Raj Saini, But the evening’s main course was the small group dialogues where participants considered issues and shared their views. Each group came up with a series of conclusions, all of which were duly passed along for consideration in Ottawa. The Record‘s Luisa D’amato reports:
As I felt the unmistakable sense of optimism that comes when a powerful person asks your opinion, it occurred to me that we might have got it wrong all this time.
We’ve asked young people to vote, and shook our heads when they didn’t. “Don’t complain if you don’t vote,” we said.
Yet the rules by which we held the elections seemed designed to silence their choices.
Julia and Sam (Kitchener Centre Greens) are passionate about meaningful electoral reform. The shape of their future depends on it. They’re the driving force behind our Canada’s Voting System Is Changing event at Kitchener City Hall tomorrow.
Canada’s Voting System Is Changing poster ~ click to download larger size
The main goal of tomorrow’s event is to provide public information about our options.
Every MP in Canada has been asked to consult with their constituents about what they would like to see in terms of electoral reform. Although our evening with Ms. Monsef was excellent, it would have been nice to see 4 Liberal Town Halls. Knowing how long it took me to get my head around electoral reform, more events might make it easier for many citizens.
Sadly Kitchener-Conestoga residents don’t get any Town Hall at all. Our Conservative MP Harold Albrecht has declined to conduct a consultation. Fair Vote Waterloo will be putting on 3 more Library Information nights at Elmira Library, New Hamburg and the Ayr Public Libraries.
Earlier in the year the Waterloo NDP put on an information event with Fair Vote Waterloo, but now it’s our turn.
Proportional Representation is not a partisan issue; it is simply a way to better represent citizens in Parliament. This isn’t about parties, but about what is best for all of us, the voters. That’s why each of these events have worked hard to put partisanship aside in order to both inform and converse with the public.
The Hon. Maryam Monsef, Minister of Democratic Institutions speaks to a packed house in Waterloo Region. September 14th, 2016
So many other countries have adopted meaningful electoral reform that there’s a lot of information out there. And yet, Canadians have heard almost nothing about the alternatives before us.
That’s why Fair Vote Waterloo co-chair Sharon Sommerville will give an introductory talk about Proportional Representation. Then we’ll break into small group discussions, much like Maryam Monsef’s National Electoral Reform Community Dialogue Tour the other night. We have decided to have two kinds of groups; one to help those of us just beginning to learn about Proportional Representation, and another for those who have an idea of what kind of reform they would like to see. The latter will be able to discuss the issue as a group in order to make a group submission we can forward on to the ERRE Committee.
Even if you have a pretty good handle on Electoral Reform, we look forward to seeing you in Carl Zehr Square. It is always a lot more fun to work on a submission together, and it is amazing how much discussion can help clarify the things we’re fuzzy on. The more Canadians participate in this electoral reform process, the better the outcome will be.
This is a perfect opportunity to help your friends and neighbors get the facts about electoral reform. We hope to see you there!
Canada’s Voting System Is Changing: Community Dialogue
Saturday September 17th, 2016
3:00pm – 4:30pm
Carl Zehr Square, in front of Kitchener City Hall
200 King St W, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada map
Waterloo Region Monsef Federal Electoral Reform Community Dialogue Tour poster ~ print ~ Click for more sizes ~
If Waterloo Region had a GPC Member of Parliament, we could look forward to having our own Green Electoral Reform Town Hall. Instead, Waterloo Region has 4 Liberal MPs and 1 Conservative MP. All 5 Waterloo Region MPs managed to attend the Climate Change Town Hall. Unfortunately we won’t see the same for Electoral Reform.
All 5 Waterloo Region MPs attended the Climate Change Town Hall
Although the ERRE Special Committee on Electoral Reform is conducting a Canada wide tour, apparently it will only effect a single stop in the most populous province in the land. And that won’t be in Northern Ontario, but rather in the most populous city, Toronto, leaving the rest of the province out of the loop. The Minister of Democratic Institutions is trying to augment the Committee’s limited itinerary with a complimentary tour of her own, which will visit many more spots.
Every MP in Parliament has been is tasked with hosting a Town Hall to consult with their constituents about electoral reform. Unfortunately, Kitchener-Conestoga MP has chosen to mail out a form letter questionaire (read: advertisement) encouraging citizens who have no idea of the alternatives to rally around a referendum (the CPC strategy intended to derail our long overdue electoral reform).
As I understand it, instead of 4 Liberal Town Hall consultations in Waterloo Region, the 4 LPC MPs will join the Honourable Maryam Monsef in one big Town Hall event on Wednesday Night.
This will be our only official ERRE Event, so though the event is being put on by Liberal MPs for a Liberal Government, everyone who can attend should attend to support Proportional Representation in the only opportunity we’ll have for face to face Government engagement on this most important reform.
Federal Electoral Reform Community Dialogue Tour
Wednesday, 14 September 14th, 2016
7:00pm — 9:00pm
at the Stanley Park Community Centre
505 Franklin Street North, Kitchener (~ MAP~) Please RSVP online or call +1-519-741-2001
This is a must attend event for electoral reform supporters.
There are plenty ofreasons for the Green Party to support Proportional Representation, the chief being that the disproportional power the winner-take-all party gets comes at the expense of smaller parties like the GPC. There are things we can do to help Canada along the path to truly representative government:
You might find the electoral reform series I’m writing to help demystify Proportional Representation useful. If you don’t have time for the whole thing, probably the most useful articles are:
Do you know anyone who needs their own poster in other parts of Canada?
Share the DIY posters below: all they have to do is fill in the event details!
WRegion Monsef Tour ~ online version ~ Click for more sizes ~DIY Monsef Tour ~ online version ~ Click for more sizes ~DIY Monsef Tour ~ print version ~ Click for more sizes ~
Print & Share our WRGreens
Canada’s Voting System Is Changing
Community Dialogue Poster too!
Can you imagine a better way to celebrate Democracy Week?
Canada’s Voting System Is Changing ~ click for larger size ~ Print & post WRGreens Community DialogueYou can also print and post posters for the Waterloo Region Library Fair Vote Events ~ click for large size ~
The Wellington Water Watchers say the permit for Nestlé Waters in Aberfoyle, Ontario expired on July 31, but an automatic extension was granted without consulting local residents, and so continues to extract water from a local well even in the midst of a severe drought.
“Although our permit expired on July 31, 2016, we have received confirmation from the MOECC that during this application phase, under the Ontario Waters Resources Act, Section 34.1 (6), the existing Permit to Take Water remains intact until the MOECC moves forward on a decision. We will continue to operate as usual….
“Our factory in Aberfoyle has operated for the last 15 years sustainably and Nestlé Waters is not asking to increase the permitted water taking limit – Nestlé Waters is applying to maintain the current permit level over a 10 year period. “
Nestlé’s permits allow the company to take millions of litres each day.
How much does water cost?
There was a sale on Nestlé water at my local grocery store a few weeks back. 6 litres of water packaged in 12 plastic bottles for 99 cents. Twelve 500 ml bottles, that’s 6 litres of water. It works out to 16.5 cents per litre. That’s a pretty good deal, right?
Until you consider what your water bill would look like if you had to pay 16.5 cents per litre. In Guelph the rate is $1.59 for a cubic metre of water.Footnote That’s works out to $0.00159 per litre for tap water at home. If it cost 16.5 cents a litre, a cubic metre of water would cost us $165.00. So, okay, it stands to reason, we’re paying a lot more for a bottle of water because companies are in business to make money. We’re paying extra for the convenience of getting that water in a bottle. Everything is relative.
If Nestlé paid $1.59 for 1000 litres of tap water (like we do), then charged us 99 cents for it, the company would make a handsome profit. But it doesn’t.
The reality is that citizens bear the cost of building and operating the infrastructure that supplies and treats water that Nestlé so profitably puts in bottles.
“For every million litres of water, Ontario charges companies $3.71 after paying a permit fee of $750 for low or medium-risk water takings, or $3,000 for those considered high risk.
“The amount these companies pay for taking out water represents 1.2 per cent of the government’s total water-quantity management costs. A number of people, including former environmental commissioner Ellen Schwartzel, have criticized the ministry for not raising the amount to take such large quantities of water.”
To put it into perspective, while Nestlé pays $3.71 for every million litres of water, at $1.59 per cubic metre, the same amount of water would cost a Guelph citizen $1,590.00.
Meanwhile in Guelph, “The average residential annual bill (based on 180 cubic metres consumption, the estimated annual volume consumed by a family of three) will go up by $31 or 4.0%.”
“If residents and businesses weren’t using water wisely, rate increases would be higher than they are today. For example, from 2006 to 2014 the City’s $8.6 million investment in water conservation and efficiency programs has reclaimed over 7.1 million litres of water and wastewater servicing capacity per day. The cost to build and operate infrastructure to supply and treat this much water would be approximately $35.6 million in capital costs, and $460,000 in annual operating costs.”
Maybe there is a time to subsidize a rich corporation’s pursuit of profit. If money were all that was at stake, maybe such an arrangement could be considered a good deal.
It gets worse
Wellington Water Watchers also has serious concerns about Nestlés proposed expansion of its Ontario Water Taking operations.
“Nestlé has issued a letter of intent to purchase a third well in Wellington County – the Middlebrook well, for an additional 1.6 million litres per day (300 gallons per minute). If Nestlé’s permit is approved for 1.6 million litres of water per day, the corporation will pay $3.71 per million litres (or $5.93 per day).
“100% of the water captured under this permit would be removed at the source and also be trucked 24/7 to Aberfoyle. A 100% consumptive permit is a permit where every drop of water that is pumped, or in this case captured as this is upwelling artesian water, is removed from the local watershed and never returned. The Middlebrook well will be similar to Nestle’s Hillsburgh well, where the water is transported by bulk tanker truck to the Aberfoyle packaging facility.”
We can get an idea of the scope of the problem by looking at the province’s interactive Map: Permits to take water. Seeing the water-taking locations linked to active permits across Ontario is an eye-opener. Ontario may be water-rich just now, but water is a finite resource. Every bottle of water shipped out of Ontario is another bottle of water that won’t make it back to our aquifers.
“We will be requesting no more than a two year permit in Aberfoyle in order to assist a phase out of this permit and will also will be requesting no new well at Middlebrook.
“Our technical advisor, Dr. Hugh Whiteley has observed that the most recent Annual Report showed that the average water level in the Middle Gasport aquifer that supplies the Nestlé production well has declined about 1.5 m from 2011 to 2015 while Nestlé’s water taking increased 33 % over the same period. This decline in water level is suggestive of a disturbance of the equilibrium between aquifer recharge and water discharge from the aquifer.”
Guelph City Councillor James Gordon will be bringing a motion to get city to advise the province not to renew Nestlé’s expired water taking permit in Aberfoyle. If you support Councillor James Gordon’s proposed motion regarding Nestlé’s permit to take water, you can come out to the Council meeting at 6:30 at Guelph City Hall (map) on September 26th, 2016.
“The motion comes before a meeting of City Council’s planning meeting but won’t be debated until council’s regular meeting on Sept. 26.
“Gordon’s motion reads:
“That Council, with support from Intergovernmental Relations, Policy and Open Government staff, submit comments through the Ontario Environmental Registry process in relation to the recent Nestlé Water permit to take water and express Council’s concern that the permit to take water is not in the best interest of the City of Guelph and the watershed shared by the City of Guelph.”
“It asks that council send a letter by the Sept. 30 deadline.”
To add punctuation to the proceeding, a community gathering is being organized for Monday, Sept 26, around 5 – 6 pm, outside City Hall in support of to support James Gordon’s motion to honour and protect our watershed.
Better stewardship of Ontario’s resources, including Water Taking has long been of concern for the Green Party of Ontario. That’s why the GPO has set up it’s own email writing tool to help Ontario residents make our feelings known to the Hon. Glen Murray, Ontario’s Environment Minister. You can use the letter provided edit it to better reflect your thoughts on the issue. Either way, it has been a long, hot summer filled with drought and water restrictions. Even if we can’t get to Guelph, we can speak up about our water supply.
“In the small community of Aberfoyle just outside of Guelph, Nestlé is taking millions of litres of water to bottle, ship to other places and then sell back to us.
“Worse yet, we are subsidizing Nestlé’s water taking. The Liberals set the water taking fee so low that it does not even cover the cost of administering the program.
“Nestlé pays only $9.27 for the amount of water it would take to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool. You read that right. Nine dollars and twenty-seven cents. That’s just $3.71 per million litres.
“Let’s tell the Minister of Environment to stop giving away our water.
Footnote: I pay a $1.71 per cubic metre of water in Woolwich. The ground water is unsafe to drink here since pollution from a local chemical company rendered the water in our local aquifer undrinkable, so we pay a premium to pipe in water from Waterloo.Ref
March with Mike Schreiner & fellow Greens at the 2016 International Plowing Match Opening Parade in Wellington County!
The parade will take place on Tuesday, September 20 in the town of Minto (Harriston), Ontario.
The parade will begin at 10:00 am sharp and Green supporters will be gathering at 9:00 am in the parade assembly area.
We would love to have you come out to show your support for the GPO, and join us in celebrating Ontario’s farmland and rural communities. Everyone is welcome!
Chelsea Hotel Churchill Ballroom
33 Gerrard St W,
Toronto, ON → map ←
1:30—4:15 pm Witness Panel(s)
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13 h 30—16 h 15 Panel(s) de témoins
4:15—5:00 pm Open mic
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16 h 15—17 h 00* séance micro ouvert
6:30—9:30 pm Open mic
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18 h 30—21 h 30* séance micro ouvert
*Please note that the end time for the open mic sessions are approximate
This month is just flying by! Before this event, don’t forget The Honourable Maryam Monself will be consulting with Waterloo Region at the Liberal Town Hall on Wednesday Sept. 14th, and and our own Community Dialogue will be the following Saturday. It would be tremendous if you could print a poster or two to hang on local bulletin boards or hydro poles.
And remember, you can keep up with Waterloo Greens events in our Calendar, or by subscribing to this blog!
Kitchener Public Library
Meeting Room C ~ Central Branch ~ 85 Queen St N, Kitchener, ON N2H 2H1 map REGISTER here
September 14th, 2016
“You’re invited to join the Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister of Democratic Institutions, at a series of federal electoral reform community dialogue events across Canada. These events, which complement the work of the Special Committee on Electoral Reform, are intended to raise awareness of electoral reform and provide an opportunity for you to engage in discussion with others about the future of Canada’s democracy.
These events will be hosted in English and French in physically accessible venues. No pre-registration is required, but note that seats will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis.
September 17th @WR_Greens hosts a Community Dialogue on Electoral Reform
Join us for a community dialogue about proportional representation and electoral reform!
Anita Krajnc ‘s Lawyer James Silver explains what this case is really all about.
The “Pig Trial” began on August 24th and 25th. Toronto Pig Save co-founder, Anita Krajnc, is facing charges for giving water to pigs en route to slaughter who were, as an expert testified last Thursday, “in all likelihood, in severe distress.” Although Anita is facing charges, it is the factory farming industry that is on trial.
We praise those who intervene on behalf of a dog in a hot car. Yet pigs, whose intelligence is likened to that of a toddler, are commodified, degraded to mere property or “things”, and robbed of their individuality. This concept of sentient beings as property is part of what Save activists seek to address in the Pig Trial.
In Canada, pigs are allowed to be transported for up to 36 hours without food or water. These are some of the weakest standards in the world.
The farmer behind the charges, Eric Van Boekel, and his truck driver both took the stand. Krajnc’s lawyers, James Silver and Gary Grill, ran through a lengthy line of questioning of the farm and its operations in order to demonstrate that what Anita was doing was truly in the public good.
Krajnc’s lawyer’s cross-examination of the driver made it clear that there was no real “mischief” involved: no profits were lost, the “property” – such that it is – was not damaged, nor was the driver impeded from doing his job.
Van Boekel was asked details of his operation including the treatment of the pigs, confinement practices, antibiotics, nutrition, and environmental impacts.
When describing “piglet processing”, Van Boekel explained how piglets’ teeth are cut and their tails docked by crushing the bone. He noted, “It hurts like hell, but [the piglets] won’t remember it.”
Disturbingly, Van Boekel made many comparisons to human mothers while on the stand. When describing the containment facilities for pregnant pigs, he stated, “Like most mothers can attest to, their hormones flare up. They kind of don’t know what they’re doing.” He explained that hormones combined with their territorial nature was the rationale behind confining pregnant pigs in “gestation stalls” for days on end.
Van Boekel explained how female pigs are artificially inseminated with a pregnancy lasting for 114 days. After little more than a month, her piglets are weaned, and she has only 4-9 days before she is impregnated again. I should hope sympathetic women everywhere would be outraged.
Most ironic was the questioning that explored environmental impacts, such as when Van Boekel plead guilty after his farming operation contaminated a local river.
Van Boekel suggests he was concerned about “contaminants” Krajnc may have had in the “unknown liquid”. But, when samples were offered, the driver refused without even once checking the animals to see if they were in distress.
Despite proclamations of concerns about “contaminants”, no precautions have been taken since, despite the hundreds of individuals joining Krajnc every week.
It is clear these are not the motivations for laying these charges but, in the driver’s own words in his statement to the police, “[the activists] are messing with our livelihood.”
Krajnc and Toronto Pig Save have sparked a worldwide movement of “Save” groups. She and hundreds of others bear witness to animals on their way to slaughter. These animals are scared. They can hear the screams and smell the blood.
Pig Save also uses social media as a tool to ensure their stories do not remain invisible. It is clear their activism is having an effect. More than ever, people are talking about where their food comes from.
Bearing witness is not easy. But, as Krajnc states, when one sees suffering it is our duty to move closer and try to help, not to look away.
It is past time for our laws to be updated to give all non-human animals the respect and dignity they deserve.
The Pig Trial resumes on October 3rd in Burlington.
New Hamburg Branch
“For the past month I’ve been traveling across Canada hearing from Canadians directly on the values and expectations they feel should be reflected in Canada’s electoral system.
Julia and Sam (Kitchener Centre Greens) are passionate about meaningful electoral reform. The shape of their future depends on it. They’re the driving force behind our Canada’s Voting System Is Changing event at Kitchener City Hall tomorrow.
How much does water cost?
2016 International Plowing Match Opening Parade
