|
EDA Insider is a monthly roundup of news and information designed to help Green Party Electoral District Association (EDA) executives keep their membership engaged and active as they prepare for the next election. As always, your suggestions and comments are welcome! Email us at support@greenparty.ca. Elections CanadaEDA complianceOn May 31 every year, every registered Electoral District Association must provide Elections Canada (EC) with:
For information on all reporting requirements for EDAs please follow this link. To access the latest version of “Political Financing Handbook for Electoral District Associations and Financial Agents” click here. As we all know, EC had problems processing the information they received last year, and some EDAs had to submit their documents more than once. Please copy support@greenparty.ca when you submit your documents by email, or advise your organizer to keep us updated. Online training for associations
Interim Leader’s updateThis month was full of planning for the months ahead! We hosted our first members’ townhall where I discussed a little bit of what’s to come. We’ve started planning the leadership contest, and a tour for me to come visit as many regions and EDAs as possible. I’m also very excited to be supporting the development of membership engagement initiatives that will hopefully create perennial ways for members to build community and volunteer. On February 1, I had the privilege to be invited as a guest speaker at the Annual General Meeting of the Halifax EDA. I met with their members and witnessed enriching and honest conversations. Seeing the strength of this EDA and its level of involvement was very inspiring, to all of us. Greens are united, now more than ever. Thank you Nova Scotia for this great event! I am looking forward to visiting many more EDAs soon, virtually and in person! Engaging with members and working with our Caucus and Shadow Cabinet continue to be wonderfully fulfilling and joyful. We have lots of work to do, but I am hopeful that strengthening our foundation now will help us become everything we need to be: the solution to our many crises.
Campaign to ban thermal coalOn February 4, GPC launched a web, email and social media campaign calling on the government to fast-track the ban on thermal coal – the type used to generate electricity and the dirtiest fossil fuel on the planet. The government has announced plans to phase out the mining, burning and export of thermal coal by 2030 but that’s not not nearly soon enough. Our letter-writing campaign calls on Minister Guilbeault to move the ban up to next year. Please click HERE to add your name and make sure you share on Facebook and Twitter. The Green Party in the MediaGreen Party statement on the “Freedom Convoy” Green Party's interim leader among hundreds in B.C. whose surgeries have been postponed JO-ANN ROBERTS: Lament for alienation: Freedom Convoy symptom of much deeper problem Elizabeth May puts environmental racism back on the House agenda EDA Spotlight:Panel on nuclear energy Richmond Hill CEO Alison Lam (who’s also the deputy critic for arts, culture and heritage on Shadow Cabinet) recently organized an excellent panel discussion on nuclear energy. In this interview, she talks about how to organize an event like that. 1. How did the idea of doing this panel come about? Nuclear energy is a topic that is very important to Greens, one that many are passionate about. Particularly on the heels of COP26 and the world’s recommitment to reach net zero by mid-century, the debate on whether it is possible to leave fossil fuels behind without nuclear power has become much more heated and relevant. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to have an informed discussion on what nuclear energy really is and shed more light on why this has become such a divisive topic. 2. How do you get those great panelists even if they are not necessarily green party supporters? Sometimes, it takes a lot of asking and many either turn me down or do not respond. I try to put together a well-rounded panel with many different perspectives, and not necessarily political ones. For our anti-Islamophobia panel, for example, we had a panelist from our own Shadow Cabinet, but we also had an academic perspective and a panelist from a non-profit organization that provides support and education services for the Muslim community. Frequently, non-profit organizations and support groups will only participate if we assure them that we will make it clear that their involvement is for educational purposes only and they do not necessarily endorse the party through their involvement. When I invite panelists to speak, I assure them that my intent is not political but to inform my audiences and keep the conversation going on important topics. 3. Do you have some issues? Yes, there have been many organizations I would love to hear from that will not agree to speak at the risk of appearing partisan. Sometimes, it’s hard to fill an entire panel and have the different perspectives that we would like. I’m also never sure of how many will be in attendance. I try to manage expectations with our guests, letting them know that we may have very few in attendance. We’ve also tried to have a variety of different types of events so there would be something to interest everyone; we’ve had fireside chats with our interim Leader, Dr. Amita Kuttner, and former Chief of the Xat’sull and acclaimed author of They Called Me Number One, Bev Sellars. We also had a virtual tour of the Shingwauk Residential School. The nuclear panel will be our third panel discussion, after one on anti-Asian racism and one on anti-Islamophobia. 4. Do you have any advice for other EDA that want to do a big event. There are many things that can be done in order to ensure that an event is as successful as possible. First, start early when inviting panelists, because it may take a long time to secure agreement. Try to have the panel complete at least one month before the expected date of the event. Second, preparation is key. Make sure expectations from both sides are met and the panelists are clear on the format of the event. Prepare the panelists by introducing them virtually to each other and providing them with at least some of the questions that will be asked so they can have some agency to discuss amongst themselves how they want to position their responses if they choose or suggest topics that they would like to speak to. If you would like to record the event, obtain permission and let them know what you will do with the recording. If there will be an open Q&A, let the panelists know ahead of time. Finally, in the month remaining, market the event through email, word of mouth and social media. Then, send out a reminder through the same channels a few days before. Don’t forget to connect with your guests again after the event, to thank them and to provide them with the recording of the event. In our case, we also post parts of the recording on YouTube, so I send the YouTube links to the panelists once they have been posted as well. From South Okanagan-Shuswap:
Vernon Winter Carnival Parade This year Greens teamed up to have a joint entry in the Vernon Winter Carnival parade. We would like to thank all the members and friends of the federal and provincial green parties who participated in our "walking float". Some participants came from a long distance and we especially want to thank them for making the effort to attend. Also a shout out to those Greens in the audience who cheered and whistled as we passed them. We got noticed. North Island Powell River:
The Coldest Night of the Year It's cold out there. On February 26, NIPR Greens are going to do something about it. Together with thousands of Canadians across the country, they’re walking and fundraising to support and serve people and families experiencing homelessness, hurt, and hunger in their community. To find out how you can get your EDA involved, visit https://cnoy.org/home. ED Office NewsFederal Council Elections - Coming this Spring! Be advised that the Governance Committee, Federal Council and staff are gearing up preparations to conduct the 2022 Federal Council Elections. Governance update Executive Council Town Hall The Executive of the Federal Council is holding a Town Hall with all members on February 17th at 8pm to do a debrief of the work of Council in the last months. All members of the GPC will have the opportunity to attend and ask questions to the Executive members. Strategic Planning committee message Hello EDAs Federal Council has launched a strategic planning exercise. The first phase is all about hearing from members and party volunteers. We believe it would be especially beneficial if our EDAs were to be able to give the strategic planning committee specific input from their organisation’s point of view. Therefore, we will send out in the next few days two surveys, one for all members and a specific EDA survey that we hope will be filled out by the EDA executives. We understand that this can be difficult for some EDAs to have a special meeting for this, but we would ask you to make every effort to do so. This is your organisation’s chance to influence the Party’s strategic direction. This is not just another survey and there will not be a donation button attached. We want your input. We need your input. We are sending this notice out in the EDA Insider so that you have a bit more time to organize before the actual survey is sent out. We sincerely hope to have a heavy response to this. If you have any questions on the coming survey or the strategic planning committee and exercise in general, please contact the chair Thomas Boysen at Thomas.boysen@greenparty.ca. Thank you in advance for helping steer the future of the Party! Watch for the email coming soon concerning the survey. Thomas Boysen Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee Upcoming eventsVGM Phase 2 Phase 2 of the VGM will take place starting on March 25, 2022. We need many more volunteers for Phase 2, including experts on Green rules, online facilitation, and online safety. We need chat monitors, translators, and social media volunteers. With your participation, each new general meeting will improve on the one before. If you or anyone in your EDA is interested in volunteering, please email generalmeeting@greenparty.ca. Invite a Caucus representative to your eventIf you wish to invite the interim Leader or one of the Green MPs to your event, you can make a request and fill out this form. After your request, the Mobilizing team will follow up with the caucus team and will keep you informed. Gvote training for EDAs on requestIf you or members of your EDA want a training on Gvote, make a request to support@greenparty.ca and your organizer will set up a time with you.
|
|||||||
