Sharing Local Solutions for a Healthier Community |
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Community Trees Matter Network If you love our community trees, we invite you to show your support this Thursday, Nov. 22nd, starting at 6:30 pm, in Victoria City Hall‘s public council chambers where a number of local citizens from the Community Trees Matter Network will be making presentations throughout the evening. We will encourage council and mayor to add tree planting, protection and maintenance of new and mature trees to the 2019 city budget as a community health and wellness matter, and to implement the Urban Forest Plan recommendations put forward in 2013, and update its 2005 tree preservation bylaws. We are also speaking out against the continuing loss of mature trees, and asking council to regard them as a precious and valuable resource, which is not easily replaced. If you can come, please wear or bring something tree-related so your presence can be seen and appreciated! Did you know it takes 269 saplings to replace the carbon storage of one mature tree and that people who live on streets and in neighbourhoods without trees have a higher rate of asthma than those that do? Trees are a public health issue. Trees clean and cool the air, and create oxygen, as well as decrease carbon dioxide. |
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With the continued loss of thousands of our established urban trees, the impact of smoke-filled skies in our region for three consecutive summers, and the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report calling for immediate action, Creatively United for the Planet has responded with the establishment of the Community Trees Matter Network, a region-wide, citizen-led community initiative. |
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If you can’t make it this Thursday, add your name to our growing list of supporters so we can keep you informed with updates and opportunities to be proactive on issues regarding our community trees and more. Please visit CreativelyUnited.org to learn more about values-based local events, resources and information, plus share your upcoming news, resources and events free of charge. Thanks to the Sierra Club of BC for publishing this personal story of how the Creatively United for the Planet Society came to be. |
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Historic Opportunity Does transparency and accountability in government, a say in how your tax dollars are spent and decisions are made, appeal to you? Would you like to live in a fairer, more compassionate world where community issues are given consideration and you are inspired to have someone and something to vote for? If you haven't voted yet, there is only one week left to take part in a historic, once-in-a-generation opportunity to vote for Proportional Representation, a more democratic system of governance that is used in more than 80 countries in the world. |
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By adopting a Proportional Representation system we can finally say goodbye to First Past the Post, a dysfunctional political system that has resulted in Donald Trump and Doug Ford being elected despite having less than the popular vote, and a government dedicated to the whims of corporate lobby groups who put profits before people and planet. |
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"Imagine a B.C. coalition government where the minister of finance might be a Conservative with extensive business experience, the minister of health could be a Liberal with impressive medical credentials, the minister of environment could be a Green with a PhD in climate science, and the minister of jobs and trade might be a former labour relations negotiator from the NDP. The end result would be a government that better represented the values and interests of a larger number of British Columbians, and made better use of the wide expertise of our citizens who choose to run for politics." Thanks to Andrew Frank, an instructor in the School of Business and the Faculty of Science and Horticulture at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, he explains the benefits of proportional representation in this excellent article from The Georgia Straight. He goes on to explain how British Columbians have a historic opportunity to try out a new proportional representation electoral system that is risk-free for two elections, giving us a chance to actually get things accomplished that matter to the public at large. First Past the Post creates "seesaw governments in which political parties take turns throwing each other out of office and undoing each other’s policies. It’s a zero-sum, winner takes all system that isn’t doing much good for anyone but creating polarization." Frank adds, "policies that make sense become non-partisan. For example, renewable energy is not a partisan issue in Germany. The vast majority of Germans support it, and as a result, Germany has become the world’s first major renewable energy economy, with almost half of all renewable energy production owned by German citizens themselves. |
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A recent 2017 national survey showed that 95 percent of Germans support further expanding renewable energy. All of this happened because a coalition government was elected through proportional representation in the 1990s, and it created a national renewable energy policy that has been carried on by all governments since then, regardless of political stripe." So, why is the No side waging such a huge campaign against Proportional Representation? |
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Andrew Frank explains it like this: "There is one group that thinks it won’t benefit from proportional representation: those who are already powerful. Financial donors to the No side include government lobbyists and the wealthy elites who employ them. These are the people who prefer things the way they are. The idea of citizens having more control over the political system scares them. More political power to citizens means more control over the things that affect our lives, including taxes, housing, wages, healthcare, resource revenues, you name it." |
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In summary, "at the end of the day, proportional representation means that if you earn 30 percent of the vote, you get 30 percent of the seats, and 30 percent of the power. It’s that simple. It also means citizens will be motivated to create new political parties representing issues that matter to them. This means we will have more political choices to choose from, and while we might not agree with each other’s politics, we can strongly agree on each other’s right to better representation. |
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When proportional representation was brought to a referendum vote in New Zealand, many politicians were opposed to the new system because they feared the unknown. After the system was adopted in 1996, many changed their position, preferring the new system for the same reason citizens liked it: improved dialogue, transparency, and consultation between political parties and the public. Subsequently, a strong majority of New Zealanders voted again in 2011 to keep the system," concludes Frank. |
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Be sure to get your ballot in the mail BEFORE November 30th. This is a chance to give yourself more power over the things that matter to you, regardless of your politics. The most important question on the ballot is the first one. The second question is optional. It is not necessary to answer it. |
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Thank you for your interest in our community! CreativelyUnited.org offers our community a free and convenient way to find, learn and connect with people and groups creating positive change in one convenient website, complete with event listings, a resource section, informative videos, articles, book and film reviews, plus a Pair Up directory of non-profits. If you haven't already found us on Facebook and Instagram, please join us. Keep up-to-date with local events and information regarding our inspired community. |
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