Meeting Notes of 8 June 2017

Date: Thursday, 8 June 2017
Location: Queen Street Commons Cafe

Participants

Stacey, Teresa, David, Amro, Kris, Will, Laurel, Bob, Julia, Sam, Adam, Michele.

Meeting Notes

  • Open Streets festival 18 June 2017
    • Theme is “Words”, Michele Braniff will be there as storyteller at 3:00pm

Introductions, Riding summaries

  • All ridings present except Kitchener South — Hespeler
  • Kitchener Centre
    • Hasn’t met since last meeting
  • Waterloo
    • Has a potential candidate
  • Kitchener — Conestoga
    • Has set up bank account
    • Needs to hold its Annual General Meeting, possibly in July
    • Also needs to hold a Nomination Meeting, anyone have advice?
  • Other ridings are also unsure of Candidate Selection Process
    • Guelph (the CA for Mike Schreiner, GPO Party Leader) will hold their Nomination Meeting in July
    • It would be good to have candidates nominated so they can be present at Festival info tables
  • There is a suspicion that the provincial election may be called earlier than June 2018
    • Many Liberal promises
    • The CBC has reported that 7 June 2017 is the one-year mark for the election
    • …but there is no advantage to the Liberals to have a late election

Candidate selection

  • Send out e-mails?
  • WR Greens should self-impose a candidate selection deadline: End of September?
  • Create an “ad” for prospective candidates
    • What we have in financial support
      • We’re in good shape with the per-vote subsidy, received since this past winter.
    • When approaching candidates let them know
      • Campaign volunteers will be spending some time in Guelph campaigning for Mike Schreiner
      • Candidate is expected to spend some time in Guelph too
      • perhaps in Guelph on the weekends, attend debates &c. during the week
  • How do we hold a Nomination Meeting?
    • Contact Amy Watson at GPO for info

Volunteers

  • Julia Gogoleva and Sam Nabi will be Region-wide Volunteer Co-ordinators
  • Volunteer handbook:
    • What has Green Party done
    • Tasks
      • Door knocking
      • Telephone calls
      • Signs (Sign Co-ordinator might be a separate task)
      • Organize rides
      • Support candidate at debates, &c.
  • Identify volunteer leaders for each riding
  • Ensure volunteers don’t drop out for lack of work, lack of contact
    • Ask new volunteers to participate immediately
      • Perhaps take them out for coffee
    • Identify volunteers’ skills

2017 GPO AGM

  • 3x the attendance of 2016
    • Shows people are looking for alternatives to the existing political parties
  • Reduced costs attracted people
  • Good to meet people from across the province
    • Developed contacts for help: “Hey Eric, remember me? Can you help with …”
  • BC Leadership Group
    • Said enthusiasm was great
    • GPO is better organized than BC
    • but the presentation of GPO is not as good
      • Need additional bodies at events like Nomination Meetings
      • eg. create a News Event such as “Five Green Party Nominations In One Week”
  • The GPO AGM Policy Meeting went really well
    • Policy focus for platform:
      • Mike Schreiner will decide in consultation with the Shadow Cabinet
      • Platform slogan “People, Planet, Jobs”
      • Two platforms: one short with nine points and three headings; the other long and extensive, similar to Vision Green (Federal policy document)
      • Request to include Basic Income and Electoral Reform
    • How to find out what was passed at the AGM?
      • Stacey Danckert (GPO Policy Co-ordinator) will publish it online in the next few weeks
  • Mike Schreiner was integral in provincial Financial Electoral Reform
    • Per-vote subsidy made available $1 million to the Green Party
    • Now Guelph has a fully funded campaign
    • eg. GPO can run focus groups to develop the language for the Policy and Platform documents — evidence based!
  • Diversity at AGM was poor
    • Desmond Cole spoke on discrimination
    • Question for focus groups: Why are marginalized groups not supporting the Green Party?
  • Next AGM (2018) will be in Guelph
    • Will be held earlier (March?)
    • Tell potential candidates about the AGM!

Things To Do

  • “Beer and Food get people out”
  • What can we do with our limited resources?
    • Get pamphlets, written material, especially for Festival info tables
    • Print postcard-sized cardstock with info (not for mailing)
    • Get resources from GPO, eg. pamphlets, communication materials, policy info
  • Is there a CA (Constituents’ Association) in Cambridge?
    • We need to hold a WR Greens regional meeting in Cambridge
    • Have an info table at a Cambridge event (International Festival in September?)
  • Green Party Membership signup sheet at Festival info tables
  • Meeting info is on the Web http://wrgreens.ca/calendar
  • Share everything!
  • Get a list of Green Party members, have a calling party
  • Find out the election deadlines
    • Form submission deadlines for candidacy
    • Membership cutoff before nomination meetings
  • Acquire candidates well before the election
    • Calling party: Provide info on nomination process, invite to nomination meeting
  • Some of our CAs need assistance with a media blitz
  • Have a nomination meeting even if there is only one candidate nominated
    • Even if no candidate is nominated
      • Gets people involved, meeting each other
  • Green Party has more Federal supporters than Provincial
    • How can we transfer members from Federal to Provincial?
    • Hold a Barbeque to invite the entire contact list, both Federal and Provincial
  • People don’t know they’re not Green Party members
    • Some people get mailouts, even non-members
    • People don’t know they’ve lapsed
    • People don’t know that Federal membership is not the same as Provincial Membership
    • Donors are not necessarily members
  • We will hold full nomination meetings in September
    • Kitchener Centre and Waterloo together
    • Cambridge, Kitchener South–Hespeler and Kitchener–Conestoga together
  • Have a membership drive for nominations
  • Can Federal mailing lists be used for Provincial calling?
    • Kris Braun thinks Yes — this needs to be clarified!
    • We will have GVote (software) available provincially (overlaps Federal GVote?)
  • Calling Party in Mid-July!
  • BBQ in August! (Campfire at Laurel Creek park?)
  • Nomination Meetings in September!
  • How often should WR Greens meet?
    • Bi-monthly is often enough
    • Individual ridings can meet alternate months, if needed
    • Hold a poll for every meeting! — to be posted on http://poll.wrgreens.ca
    • The Calling Party will be the next WR Greens meeting
    • Determine the dates for BBQ/Potluck and Nomination Meetings before the Calling Party (so we can inform called members)
    • Meeting on weeknights in the summer is better than weekends
  • Berlin Bike Cafe has a community bike ride
    • Green Party participants should wear T-shirts with Green Party logos
  • Are you passionate? Take control of something – Calling Party, or another event
  • Graphic Recording
    • Michele Braniff illustrates on a white board in real time or time lapse, following a script
    • There are video recording and editing skills within WR Greens
    • Stacey Danckert to contact GPO Head Office media for support; perhaps official video

Notes taken by Bob Jonkman.

All WR Greens meeting minutes