Fair Voting BC AGM July 17th

I got this via my email, I will not attend because I will still be on my way back from PJ 2011.


If you have any interest in improving our democracy, please take some time to get involved.

Charting a Course for Democratic Reform in BC - Fair Voting BC's Annual General Meeting and Democratic Reform Workshop

The Ongoing Need for Reform:

Recent events at the federal, provincial and municipal levels continue to highlight the need for significant democratic reform in Canada. Voting reform continues to be crucial, but related issues such as how the referendum process works in BC, delays and omissions in updating local government election rules and the federal government's call to the provinces to conduct elections for Senate also cry out for action.

We warmly invite you to join democratic reform supporters from around the province for an engaging afternoon of strategic planning about how we can collectively tackle and make progress on these issues.

Preliminary Agenda:

• 2:00-2:30 - Annual General Meeting - Review of past year, officers' reports, election of new board of directors
• 2:30-2:45 - Presentation of Overall Strategic Plan (Antony Hodgson, President)
• 2:45-3:30 – Mini-presentations (~10 minutes each) on Civic Reform, Senate Reform, BC’s Initiative Process and Capacity-Building
• 3:30-4:30 - Small-Group Workshops (2x45 minutes)
• Explore two of your favourite topics in more detail; meet others interested in these topics and strategize together about how we can make progress on these issues
• 4:30-5:00 – Debriefing and Next Steps
• 5:00 - Adjourn to local pub for follow-up discussion (at live sites - see below).

Meetings Live or Online:
We will host in-person meetings in several locations (including Vancouver, Victoria and Kamloops - specific places TBA) and will be webcasting live, so you can join us from anywhere on the net. If you are interested in hosting a local meeting, please send us an email.

Invitation for Nominations for Board:
We are also inviting nominations for the board of directors. If you would like to stand for the board, please send us a note indicating your interest. The primary qualification is a desire and commitment to improve democracy in BC, so we encourage anyone interested to stand.

Registration and Membership:
To register for the AGM, please visit our AGM Registration Website. Attendance is free (donations always gratefully accepted!), though only Fair Voting BC members can vote for the board of directors and other resolutions. We therefore invite you to renew or sign up for a membership by visiting our Membership Website. Membership dues are $20/year (regular) or $10/year (low-income).

Please note that if you have contributed more than $20 to our recent campaigns (e.g., our fundraiser for the Quebec Court Challenge in February) or are a regular monthly donor, you have a current membership and should recently have received a notification of this. If you are not sure about whether or not you have a current membership, please visit our membership website and please feel free to send us an email at info@fairvotingbc.com if you have any questions or concerns.

We look forward to seeing you on July 17th!

Yours for a stronger democracy,

Antony Hodgson
President, Fair Voting BC