New Voting Machine, CVRD Public Input, Tax Payers Federation, Removing Dissident Voices On Council From Boards.
Have your say on four issues
Dear COAP members,
It has come to our attention that snuck inside the N.C. “accessibility plan” is the ask for new voting machine technology.
After the last election, some citizens went to the streets to do their own survey asking whether the electoral base knew there was not a hand count done after the votes. Every citizen that was asked expressed that they had assumed there was a hand count, and were shocked to learn that they are not.
A previous council had voted to change from paper ballot hand-counting be switched to a machine counting method based on the idea that it would be more ‘efficient’. The difference between hand counting and machine counting ended up being negligible, a difference of a few hours. COAP would like to see a motion to go back to hand counting, yet N.C. is looking to go further and use machines that stamp the votes for you under the guise of “accessibility’’.
“I will put forth a personal story; My son is disabled and would have an issue reading all the names, so when he went to vote, he was allowed to have his grandmother go in with him to help read…there are plenty of ways to help people currently that have accessibility issues.” (Adrienne)
[page 20 voting machines https://pub-northcowichan.escribemeetings.com/FileStream.ashx?DocumentId=13226]
The machine: https://www.essvote.com/products/expressvote-xl/
Have your say! Survey:
https://www.connectnorthcowichan.ca/accessibilityplan/survey_tools/accessibility-survey
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On the Agenda for North Cowichan November 1st, 5pm: Removing Tek Manhas from the CVRD Board and removing Bruce Findlay from the Joint Utilities Commission (dealing with multi-million dollar sewage outfall issues, and relocation).
Why? Why is Counc. Manhas, who represents diversity in our community, having the second highest vote count, and is a senior Councilor being replaced with a new Councilor, Counc. Istace? Is this because one is in alignment with a similar voting record? Or just a new chance for a new counselor? Time will tell..
Why is Counc. Findlay, well-versed in business and budgets, being replaced with The Mayor on the Joint Utility Board, and Counc. Justice ?
We have witnessed Mayor Douglas express that when it comes to certain policies (ie the Climate Action Energy Plan and the adaption plan) that public feedback and dissenting council voices (who represent a large portion of the tax-paying citizens) will be dismissed as “ any member of Council who does not believe this work related to adaption is a priority, then they are free to bring forward a notice of motion to abandon this project. Until then, we will be moving forward with our climate adaptive strategy”. With a constant 3-4 vote, it is obvious that bringing forward this notice of motion would be shut down anyway.
Are dissenting voices being removed from boards? It seems like odd timing. As well, currently the CVRD is ramping up its ‘climate’ plans that include rewilding 30% of land by 2030, and 50% by 2050... of whose lands we are still unsure.
Is this democracy in action?
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CVRD Plan Your Cowichan on-line survey : “The survey is open from October 13 to November 15, 2023, and complements the in-person community Ideas Fairs being hosted by the CVRD in October and November 2023.
Responses from the survey and Ideas Fairs will be used to develop the future vision, local area description, concept plan with complete community assessment for your local area plan. For more information about the project and the Ideas Fair schedule visit planyourcowichan.ca.
What is a Complete Community? The complete communities concept is about living locally—giving people the ability to meet most of their daily needs with safe cycling, walking and local transport options. In a regional district, complete communities could be seen as the hubs that are part of a connected network. The creation of more complete communities may enhance “hub areas” with a range of needed services and amenities.” - AKA 15-minute cities, walkable cities, etc.
Survey: https://www.planyourcowichan.ca/ideas-fairs-local-area-plans/survey_tools/cvrd-lap-step-1
See a previous Substack where we broke down the new CVRD OCP plans, the worrisome parts, and shared the dates to attend the Town Halls. Everyone needs to be at these Town halls asking pertinent questions.
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From the Canadian Tax Payers Federation:
The Senate has one more chance to save you money on eggs, milk, and bread.
You need to make sure that happens.
Bill C-234 would remove the carbon tax from natural gas and propane used on farms.
[A funny video on this - warning*** a couple F-bombs ]
But one senator amended the bill to water down the relief and slow everything down. His amendment would mean farmers still have to pay the carbon tax when they heat their barns. And it would keep the food you buy more expensive.
The Senate needs to reject that nonsense amendment and pass the original bill.
Winter is here, farmers can’t afford any more dilly dallying in the Senate. And you can’t afford to keep paying more for groceries because of the carbon tax.
You know that British Columbia has its own carbon tax, but getting this bill passed is the first step to getting these exemptions extended to farmers in B.C.
You need to act quick. The Senate is scheduled to vote on this legislation on Oct. 31. Now’s the time to take action.
Here’s how you can apply pressure.
You can tell the senate to reject the amendment and pass the original version of Bill C-234, which Members of Parliament have already voted to pass TWICE.
Bev Busson is a Senator from your province. You need to tell them to vote to reject the amendments to Bill C-234. Here is their email: Bev.Busson@sen.parl.gc.ca
But stay tuned: This campaign is a big one and emailing your Senator is only the first step. I have a lot of family on the farm and they’re going to make sure I keep fighting on this issue. So I’ll be updating you soon with next steps to keep up the pressure.
Thanks for standing up for taxpayers – it’s making a difference!
Sincerely,
Gage Haubrich
Prairie Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation
PS: It only takes a few seconds to make your voice heard, please send Senator Bev Busson an email here: Bev.Busson@sen.parl.gc.ca
Sincerely,
Team COAP