Fair Vote Canada
NEWSLETTER
August 5, 2001

CONTENTS:
1) Law Commission of Canada and FVC Pursue Joint Project
2) Local Chapter Guidelines Approved
3) Local Chapter Updates
4) Membership Drive

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1) Law Commission of Canada and FVC Pursue Joint Project

Fair Vote Canada is joining forces with the Law Commission of Canada to undertake a project on voting system reform.

"Renewing Canadian Democracy: Citizen Engagement in Voting System Reform" is a multi-phase program to be initiated and co-managed by the Commission and Fair Vote Canada.

The overall objectives of the program are to: 1) determine how Canadian citizens can become actively engaged in a civic process to learn about voting system reform, and 2) to develop plain language educational materials for citizen engagement.

Phase one will review the process of voting system reform in other countries, specifically the United Kingdom and New Zealand, and examine the role of citizens in each case. The objective is to identify procedural lessons for Canada in terms of generating public knowledge, interest and options regarding electoral reform.

Phase two will be a forum bringing together academics, provincial representatives and members of under-represented communities of interest to better understand the issue of voting system reform and citizen engagement from different perspectives.

Phase three will incorporate information from the prior phases to identify a recommendation on how citizens should be engaged developing the best voting system for Canada.

The Commission is committed to engaging Canadians in the renewal of the law to ensure that it is relevant to contemporary society. To guide its research, the Commission has identified "governance relationships" as one of its strategic research themes. It will provide $45,000 of funding for the project.

FVC and the Commission will establish a joint steering committee to guide the project.

Further details will be announced when they are available on our website and in future newsletters.

2) Local Chapter Guidelines Approved

Fair Vote Canada's National Council has approved a set of guidelines for the establishment of local chapters. A copy of the guidelines, including model by-laws, is available on request from info@fairvotecanada.org or 416-410-4034, and will soon be available for downloading from the website.

3) Local Chapter Updates

-- Toronto -- The Toronto chapter meeting on July 9 discussed the development of model presentations to be used to introduce Fair Vote Canada and the idea of voting reform to community groups. Efforts to contact such groups are underway.

The meeting also discussed the draft chapter guidelines and model bylaws from the National Council.

The August chapter meeting will discuss workshop presentations and the organization of the Toronto chapter. The tentative agenda for the September meeting will be to adopt the chapter's bylaws and elect the first executive.

The next meeting will be on Tuesday, August 7 at 7:00 p.m. at 130 Carlton Street, just east of Jarvis. For more info, contact Wayne Smith, 416-407-7009, wayneon@hotmail.com.

-- Edmonton -- The Edmonton chapter has formed several committees to deal with outreach to the media, local politicians and the public. If you would like more information on the chapter's activities contact Doug Bailie at .

-- Vancouver -- If you are interested in participating in a Vancouver FVC chapter, please contact Arn Keeling . An organizational meeting is being planned for late August.

If you are interested in helping start a local chapter in your area, please contact info@fairvotecanada.org or phone 416-410-4034.

4) Membership Drive

Thanks go out to all of you who have signed up for membership in Fair Vote Canada since the membership drive began in June. For those who haven't sent in their membership forms yet, please remember to do so soon. Fair Vote Canada's success depends on your support.

Interested individuals can print off a membership form from the Join Fair Vote page on our website, www.fairvotecanada.org, and brochures are currently being distributed. If you would like to help circulate the brochure, contact info@fairvotecanada.org or phone 416-410-4034.

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