开云体育

MLA Kevin Arseneau just sent me this. I may go to the legislature to watch. Anybody want to join me? Vivian ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Arseneau, Kevin (LEG) <Kevin.A.Arseneau@...> Date: Thu, 19 May 2022 at 07:10 Subject: Prop rep To: Vivian Unger <vivian.unger@...> Heads up: Will be debating proportional rep in the leg @ 14h30 today -- Vivian Unger Fredericton, NB, Canada Land of the Wabanaki Confederacy: Wolastokuk (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq BOOK INDEXING SERVICES FICTION http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/335311 http://www.amazon.com/Vivian-Unger/e/B00GYK0XIY/

It's an opportunity to point out how our electoral system stands in the way of climate action, and to advise the adoption of PR as an important step towards a greener NB. You can fill in the survey: https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/elg/environment/content/climate_change/content/action-plan-renewal.html Or send an email: climatechangeNBchangementsclimatiques@... CCNB has a toolkit to help with the climate-action part: https://www.conservationcouncil.ca/add-your-voice-updating-nbs-climate-action-plan/ In case it helps, here's how I answered the survey questions: Area 1 - Provincial Government Leadership: Addressing climate change is a shared responsibility, but the role of the provincial government is critically important. The Provincial government cares about the future of New Brunswickers and believes that we can model the behaviour needed to ensure sustained and ambitious actions to address the challenges and opportunities presented by climate change. What do you see as key opportunities in this area? NBers drive private vehicles a great deal. This contributes to climate change as well as air pollution and the resulting negative health effects such as asthma. It's not great for traffic either. The government has an opportunity to improve inter-city transportation. Existing bus services should be expanded both in terms of reach and schedule, and existing buses gradually replaced with hybrid or electric buses. Existing rails can be repaired so that trains can run at a decent speed (they're currently slower than the buses and it's embarrassing!) The government can provide cities with funds to improve existing bus services and add such services where they currently don't exist (ie. Oromocto). Tolls should be set up to help fund these initiatives, both on highways and at the outskirts of cities. Private vehicle owners would have to pay while essential services and public transportation would be exempt. Free parking should be established at city outskirts so that drivers can park and ride as an alternative to paying a toll to enter the city in a private vehicle. This parking should be free to encourage use of the park-and-ride. What are the challenges, and what do you see as potential solutions to overcome those challenges? Political will presents the greatest challenge. Because of our electoral system, politicians are encouraged to behave in the following ways: * Jostle for whatever safely middle-of-the road policy will win over the plurality of voters in the largest number of ridings. Bold, necessary policies fall by the wayside. * Call a snap election in a minority government situation whenever the polls look promising. This wastes time and money that would be better spent on addressing the climate crisis, among other things. * Fall into patterns of partisanship and bickering rather than working co-operatively with all parties for the good of the province. This negatively affects decision-making. * Respond to the concerns of wealthy industrialists rather than the concerns of ordinary citizens. This results in the prioritization of short-term profits over more long-term concerns such as the health of the people and the land. All of this works against climate action. That's why it is of the utmost importance to replace the current system with a made-for-NB system of proportional representation, ideally one determined by a provincial citizen's assembly. PEI provides a good example of what we should be doing. Area 2 - Mitigation - GHG Emissions Reductions New Brunswick has set strong reduction targets in our Climate Change Act and are currently leading the nation in reducing our GHG emissions. We have achieved our 2020 target and will need to continue with strong actions to meet our 2030 and 2050 targets. What do you see as key opportunities in this area? I am pleased to hear that NB leads the country in GHG emissions reduction. One great weakness of NB remains the dismal lack of provincial parks and protected land. Parks are important as carbon sinks, hindrances to excessive development, and aids to emotional we

My email to David Coon, who is my MLA, and to Kevin Arsenault, the MLA who introduced the last motion on proportional representation. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Vivian Unger <vivian.unger@...> Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2021 at 13:17 Subject: PEI will have citizen's assembly. What about NB? To: Coon, David (LEG) <david.coon@...>, Arseneau, Kevin (LEG) <kevin.a.arseneau@...> Hi David and Kevin, Have you heard the news? The PEI legislature passed a motion to have a citizen's assembly on proportional representation. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-citizens-assembly-legislature-1.6231525 The motion was put forward by Stephen Howard, a Green Party of PEI MLA. I hope that the Green Party of NB will not be outdone! It's been a few years since your motion on proportional representation, which never came up for debate or a vote. If you decide to make a new motion on electoral reform, consider making it about a citizen's assembly. There's a lot of support for CAs. People like the idea of direct democracy. It makes a nice change from the top-down approach. It also has the advantage of creating a system that can get buy-in from a broad swath of the population, including rural people. It was rural people who voted no in PEI's last plebiscite on PR, because the proposed system had top-up seats at the provincial level rather than at a regional level. This led to the fear that urban people would dominate and rural concerns would be forgotten. The same concern exists in NB. A citizen's assembly would include a representative number of rural folks, who would work together with city folks to find consensus on a system that would benefit all NB voters. To see this happen in New Brunswick would be a beautiful thing. Thanks for listening. Best wishes, -- Vivian Unger Fredericton, NB, Canada Land of the Wabanaki Confederacy: Wolastokuk (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq BOOK INDEXING SERVICES FICTION http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/335311 http://www.amazon.com/Vivian-Unger/e/B00GYK0XIY/ -- Vivian Unger Fredericton, NB, Canada Land of the Wabanaki Confederacy: Wolastokuk (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq BOOK INDEXING SERVICES FICTION http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/335311 http://www.amazon.com/Vivian-Unger/e/B00GYK0XIY/

Dear Local Governance Reform Team, I recently found out about your new document, What We Heard, and took a look at it. I am part of a group that sent over 70 letters expressing our desire for new legislation that will give NB municipalities the option to use ranked ballots. I was dismayed to find no mention of this in the new document. It's called What We Heard, but apparently we weren't heard. I understand that voting reform is not a priority for the Local Governance Reform Team. Nevertheless, if you make a document called What We Heard and fill it with the feedback you heard, do you not have a responsibility to fill said document with everything you heard? Even those things that you may not personally like? I would like to know why we weren't heard. Is it a numbers thing? I thought 70-plus letters was pretty darn good for a tiny grassroots group. No doubt you would have heard from many more people on the subject of electoral reform if you had asked the question, the way you did with other issues such as lack of representation for LSDs. Please let me know why we either weren't heard or were deemed unworthy of inclusion. Disappointedly yours, -- Vivian Unger Fredericton, NB, Canada Land of the Wabanaki Confederacy: Wolastokuk (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq BOOK INDEXING SERVICES FICTION http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/335311 http://www.amazon.com/Vivian-Unger/e/B00GYK0XIY/

Hello fellow electoral reform advocates, The Local Governance Reform Team has released a document called "What We Heard." You can find it on this page if you scroll down a bit: https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/corporate/promo/local-governance-reform/participate.html Page 3 contains a bullet-point list of what they heard. It does not say anything about ranked ballots or any other sort of electoral reform. The closest they come is the point, "New Brunswickers want elected representatives at the local level." Apparently they did not hear us. We will have to try again, or be louder. Yesterday I met with Ruth Breen, my ward councillor. She told me, "Politicians don't like to be told what they should do. They think they already know it all." She therefore suggested that I write to Minister Daniel Allain again, but rather than asking for ranked ballots, ask how he thinks we can make our municipal democracy the best it can be. Also, ask to meet with him personally to discuss it further. What do you think of this? I'm not sure how to word it; any suggestions? Is anyone else interested in meeting with him if he's open to that? Perhaps we can make it a group meeting. Also, the Reform Team is holding World-Cafe style meetings in different cities to discuss "next steps." See the same web page & scroll a little lower down. None of them are near me, so I probably won't be able to participate. Perhaps some of you can. There will be one in Moncton on Oct. 5. -- Vivian Unger Fredericton, NB, Canada Land of the Wabanaki Confederacy: Wolastokuk (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq BOOK INDEXING SERVICES FICTION http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/335311 http://www.amazon.com/Vivian-Unger/e/B00GYK0XIY/

Do I support it? Heck, yeah! Thanks so much, Council of Canadians, for sending this out and helping raise awareness of this essential issue. I really appreciate it. Vivian -- Vivian Unger Fredericton, NB, Canada Land of the Wabanaki Confederacy: Wolastokuk (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq BOOK INDEXING SERVICES FICTION http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/335311 http://www.amazon.com/Vivian-Unger/e/B00GYK0XIY/

Hello fellow electoral reform advocates, I am forwarding an encouraging email exchange I had with Kevin Arseneau, MLA for Kent North and a vocal proponent of Proportional Representation. It's great to have him on our side. Also, today my husband and I both received letters from Daniel Allain, Minister of Local Governance Reform, in response to the letters we sent him asking for ranked ballots. If you haven't received one of these letters yet, you probably will soon. I'm cheered by both these responses. They come at a good time, given the funk I've been in over Jenica Atwin's floor-crossing, among other things. Happy Monday, Vivian ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Arseneau, Kevin (LEG) <Kevin.A.Arseneau@...> Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2021 at 09:23 Subject: Re: PR To: Vivian Unger <vivian.unger@...> Hi Vivian, That is a great initiative. I have talked to the minister responsible for the local governance reform and he was quite open into considering some form of PR. I am continuing pressure and discussions with him. In solidarity. ----- Kevin Arseneau Député de Kent-Nord | Leader parlementaire du deuxième groupe d’opposition Responsable en matière de développement et de vitalité des territoires, de souveraineté alimentaire et de justice fiscale, économique et sociale MLA for Kent-North | House Leader of the Second Opposition Group Advocate on matters of : Developing and Strengthening Communities, Food Sovereignty and Fiscal, Economic and Social Justice Bureau de circonscription | Constituency Office | 11117-3, rue principale, Rogersville, N.-B., E4Y 2N3 | 506.521.5793 Bureau législatif | Legislative Office | 96 Secretary Lane, Fredericton, NB, E3B 1C5 | 506.457.6842 Pronoms | Pronouns | Il, lui | He, him Facebook | Kevin Arseneau Twitter | @KevinArseneauNB Instagram | @KevinArseneauNB Web | kevinarseneaunb.org De : Vivian Unger <vivian.unger@...> Date : samedi, 12 juin 2021 à 09:06 ? : Arseneau, Kevin (LEG) <Kevin.A.Arseneau@...> Objet : PR ATTENTION! External email / courriel externe. Hi Kevin, Thanks for bringing up Proportional Representation in the Legislature! You may have heard that there is a Local Governance Reform Team looking at reforms at the municipal level in NB. They released a green paper that said nothing at all about how we vote. So a few of us got together at a table outside the Boyce Farmer's Market in Fredericton, and we got 37 letters signed in favour of allowing ranked ballots for local elections. Ranked ballots can be used in proportional systems. Because the Fredericton action was such a success, some of us did another one at the market in Moncton and got another 37 letters. That's a total of at least 74 letters about electoral reform sent to the Local Governance Reform Team. (I hope we also got some emails sent and survey answers talking about electoral reform, but I have no way to track that.) If we can get some traction on electoral reform at the local level, maybe we can get somewhere at the provincial level too. Yours in the struggle, -- Vivian Unger Fredericton, NB, Canada Land of the Wabanaki Confederacy: Wolastokuk (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq BOOK INDEXING SERVICES https://www.anzsi.org/profile/2367/ FICTION http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/335311 http://www.amazon.com/Vivian-Unger/e/B00GYK0XIY/ -- Vivian Unger Fredericton, NB, Canada Land of the Wabanaki Confederacy: Wolastokuk (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq BOOK INDEXING SERVICES https://www.anzsi.org/profile/2367/ FICTION http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/335311 http://www.amazon.com/Vivian-Unger/e/B00GYK0XIY/

My first-ever opinion piece on NB Media Co-op... or anywhere, I think. It's about the election results in Fredericton. Check it out. https://nbmediacoop.org/2021/05/28/fredericton-votes-for-change-but-how-fair-was-the-election/ ?? -- Vivian Unger Fredericton, NB, Canada Land of the Wabanaki Confederacy: Wolastokuk (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq BOOK INDEXING SERVICES https://www.anzsi.org/profile/2367/ FICTION http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/335311 http://www.amazon.com/Vivian-Unger/e/B00GYK0XIY/

CONGRATULATIONS Vivian!!! I can't wait to read :0) Well Done! Andrea

WOW Patti ... Well Done!! What a wonderful feeling to run out of letters early... and to be met with open and receptive community members. I and the fair vote community will miss you. Enjoy your passions and life. :0) Andrea

Sent this to the wrong email group. ? ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Vivian Unger <vivian.unger@...> Date: Mon, 17 May 2021 at 10:01 Subject: Our market action on Saturday To: pr-writers <[email protected]>, <fair-vote-fredericton@...> Hi everybody, I'm very happy with how things went on Saturday. We have 37 form letters signed and ready to go. That's one letter every 6 1/2 minutes! Fantastic. It would never have happened without Patti, who presented the idea, supplied some of the materials, and demonstrated the process with enthusiasm. I am grateful to her as well as to Andrea, Jen Smith, Greg Cook and Rhonda Connell, who all came by and helped out. Now, can we do this in other towns and cities? The Fredericton market was a proof of concept. I think it went very well and demonstrated that people care more about municipal reform than some of us may have thought. Does anyone want to do something similar in their own city? It would be great to have a table in Saint John, for example. Please write back if you're willing to give it a try. Patti or I can explain what you need and how to go about it. I'm holding back on mailing the letters until I find out if similar events will take place in other cities. That way, we can co-ordinate our mailing days for maximum impact. Thanks and enjoy the beautiful day.-- Vivian Unger Fredericton, NB, Canada Land of the Wabanaki Confederacy: Wolastokuk (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq BOOK INDEXING SERVICES https://www.anzsi.org/profile/2367/ FICTION http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/335311 http://www.amazon.com/Vivian-Unger/e/B00GYK0XIY/ -- Vivian Unger Fredericton, NB, Canada Land of the Wabanaki Confederacy: Wolastokuk (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq BOOK INDEXING SERVICES https://www.anzsi.org/profile/2367/ FICTION http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/335311 http://www.amazon.com/Vivian-Unger/e/B00GYK0XIY/

Same here lol..wouldn't that be great. There may be more to come..Rhonda has some of the letters and is seeking signatures. :0) Hope all is well with everyone..and yours. Thanks again, Patti, for the great idea and inspiration. Regards, Andrea

hi, I had thought that I was already in this group for FairVote. My apologies for not being up to date on this. My interested in the work and campaign of FairVote in New Brunswick hasn't waned. So happy to know that you have been talking about doing good work over the past few months.

Hi everyone, Here's my second draft on a letter to the local governance reform team. I'd like your input. https://docs.google.com/document/d/17ndLV_BiN66qtLoIqVAYsQ5r8rM4jcwfX9H7XrHuzD4/edit?usp=sharing The plan: on May 15, from 8 to 12:30, Patti and I will be outside the Boyce Farmers Market, asking people to sign copies. We hope to get enough to mail them out in strategic batches, so that the reform team will find it hard to ignore us. I'll also be posting it on social media and encouraging people to either print it out and snail-mail it, or copy the text and email it. If anyone else can volunteer to spend some time outside the farmers market on May 15, that would be much appreciated. I think we should also take advantage of the elections having just happened by then. I would like to have a sign on the table to call attention to this. Something like, "So how did you like your local election?" Only better than that. Does anyone have ideas? Thanks,-- Vivian Unger Fredericton, NB, Canada Land of the Wabanaki Confederacy: Wolastokuk (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq BOOK INDEXING SERVICES https://www.anzsi.org/profile/2367/ FICTION http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/335311 http://www.amazon.com/Vivian-Unger/e/B00GYK0XIY/

Vivian, I just googled Boyce Farmers Market and found this: From Fredericton Boyce Farmers Market "***Please note: Due to COVID-19, the market will re-open through a 3-phased approach on June 6th. Recognized as one of Canada's top community markets, the Fredericton Boyce Farmers Market is a Saturday staple in Fredericton. With more than 250 outdoor and indoor vendors, it's the perfect place to discover locally harvested seasonal products (like fiddleheads and blueberries), ethnic delicacies, one-of-a-kind handcrafted gifts, and more." P From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Vivian Sent: May-09-21 7:54 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [FairVoting4NB] Form letter to local governance reform team Hi Patti, Looks good to me. Thanks for doing all this. What do you think about having another phone conversation? I want to discuss what we should say to people, how we get them interested. Also: do we need a privacy written down? Just something like: "Fair Voting for NB will never share, trade or sell your information. We will use your contact information to send you updates. You can unsubscribe at any time." It may make some people more comfortable about putting their info on the letters and sign-up sheets. What do you think of this poster I designed for the table? The QR code leads to FairVoting4NB.com. Cheers, Vivian On Sun, 9 May 2021 at 18:49, Patti Chmelyk <patti@...> wrote: Vivian - please view the sign-in sheet in Print Layout. P From: Patti Chmelyk [mailto:patti@...] Sent: May-09-21 6:48 PM To: '[email protected]' Subject: RE: [FairVoting4NB] Form letter to local governance reform team Hi, attached is the first draft of the sign-in sheet. I left mailing address out, figuring it would take up a lot of space and, realistically, will we be snail-mailing to our contacts? But, since this is a provincial group, would we want to ask what provincial riding/constituency they are in? Before I print out lables/envelopes, is this the correct mailing address: Attn: Local Governance Reform Team New Brunswick Ministry of Local Governance Reform 20 McGloin Street, 2nd Floor Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5H1 Two sets of eyes are always better than one! By Wednesday/Thursday, I should have some letters, labels printed out (maybe envelopes). And I will donate some stamps. Feel free to change anything - just let me know. Cheers! Patti From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Vivian Sent: May-07-21 8:50 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [FairVoting4NB] Form letter to local governance reform team Yeah, absolutely. Not this one, but the next one. On Fri, 7 May 2021 at 17:22, Patti Chmelyk <patti@...> wrote: Hi Vivian - just to let you know that I will have a sign up sheet prepared by Monday - that is, of course, if we are still on for next Saturday morning. :) From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Vivian Sent: May-03-21 11:29 AM To: [email protected]; fair-vote-fredericton@...; David Brown Subject: [FairVoting4NB] Form letter to local governance reform team Hi everyone, Here's my second draft on a letter to the local governance reform team. I'd like your input. https://docs.google.com/document/d/17ndLV_BiN66qtLoIqVAYsQ5r8rM4jcwfX9H7XrHuzD4/edit?usp=sharing The plan: on May 15, from 8 to 12:30, Patti and I will be outside the Boyce Farmers Market, asking people to sign copies. We hope to get enough to mail them out in strategic batches, so that the reform team will find it hard to ignore us. I'll also be posting it on social media and encouraging people to either print it out and snail-mail it, or copy the text and email it. If anyone else can volunteer to spend some time outside the farmers market on May 15, that would be much appreciated. I think we should also take advantage of the elections having just happened by then. I would like to have a sign on the table to call attention to this. Something like, "So how did you like your local election?" Only better than that. Does anyone have ideas? Thanks, -

Thanks. I called the Market. They are open that was last year's info. Whew!

Heads up everybody, ? The website on local governance reform now includes a survey. Surf here, scroll down a bit, and click on "Take the Survey": https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/corporate/promo/local-governance-reform/participate.html Question 12 includes a text box you can use to suggest other ways to improve local services and representation. Why not suggest rewriting the municipal elections act to allow ranked ballots? ? Please fill in the survey, post on social media, ? and tell your friends. Thank you! ? -- Vivian Unger Fredericton, NB, Canada Land of the Wabanaki Confederacy: Wolastokuk (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq BOOK INDEXING SERVICES https://www.anzsi.org/profile/2367/ FICTION http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/335311 http://www.amazon.com/Vivian-Unger/e/B00GYK0XIY/

Hi everybody, Lots of comments, and lots to comment on.

Hi Vivian, I hope all is well with you and yours. I would be interested in this, if a zoom meeting is planned. Take care and enjoy your evening, Andrea