Urgent: We're almost there! A win for PR in BC would be a win for all of us.
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- Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00
- Written by editor
Dear Fair Vote Canada BC supporters,
Since last week, over 200 of you have chipped in to help us hire BC Organizer - amazing! With the matching contributions that we have been promised, that takes us to $24,000 in all - 2/3 of the way to our goal.
These funds are what will allow our campaign to get off to a strong start! Showing that we are already well organized and self-starting will help show that we are serious!
Can you help us get to the home stretch and start reaching BC voters at the door?
We need staff in BC's Lower Mainland URGENTLY. See the job description here.
The most outspoken opponents of proportional representation from the BC Liberal Party have declared that defeating PR is their "number one priority" and this campaign is "the fight of their lives." Which candidate is best poised to lead their war against effective votes - so the BC Liberals can obtain more false majorities with first-past-the-post - has become a key issue in their leadership race. According to Dianne Watts, members must have two questions for each contender:
"Can you win the next election and can you defeat the referendum on proportional representation? If we do not defeat this referendum, there will be no majority, there will be forever a minority of BC Liberals."
In the last provincial election, the BC Liberal Party spent 13.6 million dollars - almost double all the other parties put together.
That is what we are up against.
As a grassroots citizens group working to empower the voices of ALL VOTERS in our democracy, we need to mobilize people power!
Our tireless and passionate volunteers are driving this campaign forward with everything they have for the past six months - activating teams, visiting MLAs, writing letters, sharing on social media, collecting pledges, giving presentations - but we need a dedicated and talented organizer in Vancouver now to reach enough voters to win! Can you help us fund that person now?
With first-past-the-post, 40% of the vote means a single party can decide 100% of the issues.
No matter what issue you are most passionate about, proportional representation is the KEY to better long-term decision-making.
Nothing is more important for BC than giving each voter a voice in our future, and this is our last opportunity in a generation to achieve it.
Can you help us raise the $36,000 we need?
With thanks and hope,
Terry Dance Bennink
Fair Vote Canada BC Steering Committee Chair
Anita Nickerson
Acting ED, Fair Vote Canada
Real Lavergne
President, Fair Vote Canada
Dear ,
Happy 2018! British Columbia will be holding a referendum on proportional representation about ten months from today. A win for PR in BC would be a win for all of us Canada-wide. Here's your chance to help when it matters most.
From those who campaigned hard for the YES team in 2009, one lesson came through loud and clear:
We need to launch our campaign early to win! To make this happen, must raise at least $36,000.
As a first step, we have decided to hire an on-the-ground Campaign Organizer in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland (where much of BC's population is concentrated).
This BC Organizer will recruit, train and support campaign volunteers, provide support to our existing teams, build our capacity to collect YES vote pledges and work closely with other groups in BC that are campaigning for the YES side.
We need the resources our opponents have to reach millions of voters on the doorstep and through advertising, recruiting volunteer leaders, and getting the vote out!
This may be our last chance at electoral reform in BC for a generation.
Furthermore, a win in BC in November 2018's referendum would have a huge impact on the prospects for proportional representation federally and in other provinces at a crucial time, as we head into the 2019 federal election.
It is imperative we win this referendum and set a precedent that it can be done!
Opponents of PR with deep pockets, staff and access to big media are already using every opportunity - including paid advertising and speaking tours - to shape public opinion against PR.
BC Liberal leadership candidate Dianne Watts has said she’s "hell bent on defeating proportional representation” and that defeating PR is her “number one priority.”
BC Leadership candidate Andrew Wilkinson has called the fight to kill proportional representation "the fight of our lives."
BC voters - no matter which party they choose, or where they live in BC - deserve a voting system that puts people before false majorities for parties!
Can you chip in to help us in this David and Goliath battle?
Your contribution will have a particularly important impact at this early stage, when alternative sources of funding are scarce and while funding can be raised from all parts of Canada. In a few months time, referendum legislation may make this impossible.
Fair Vote Canada is a grassroots, citizens organization - backed by evidence and powered by people.
We are funded by individual donations from people like you.
We have skilled and dedicated BC volunteers who have been working on this campaign 50 hours a week for months, waiting anxiously to see the results of this fundraiser.
If PR supporters coast to coast come together, we can do this!
With thanks,
Anita Nickerson
Acting ED, Fair Vote Canada
Terry Dance-Bennink
Chair, Fair Vote Canada BC Steering Committee
Real Lavergne
President, Fair Vote Canada
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P.S. Do you know someone who lives around Vancouver BC who might be the BC Organizer we are looking for? Send them the job description here!
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