I am forwarding a message sent by Ted on a separate list. The Canada Votes Papers 2008 (
www.sparc.bc.ca) is not a fancy bells and whistles project, it however most helpful for those who are doing grassroots initiatives around the elections. The information sheets provide citizens background info on a variety of overlooked and undervalued social policy issues and questions they can ask about at all candidate meetings. Social Planning Councils in Canada have done great work in making community based data and information available to everyday people for years. Their resources tend to be very limited both in terms of cash and human resources, and few if any geeks ever work in these institutions, which limits them to message and information dissemination methods that are old school but no less important!
Maybe one day we will convince Ted to tell us about GANIS (
http://ganis.spno.ca/about/), the SPNO (
http://www.spno.ca/) and the Community Social Data Strategy (
http://www.ccsd.ca/subsites/socialdata/home.html) that is unfolding with participants across the country developing a data purchasing and sharing consortia as well as some lobbying! (no pressure Ted!)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
Ted Hildebrandt Date: Fri, Sep 19, 2008 at 9:29 AM
Subject: [spno-data] FYI - Canada Votes Papers 2008
Why is it important for you to talk about social issues
in the 2008 federal election?
Because democracy is most effective when citizens engage in
dialogue about the kind of society they want to live in.
Canada Votes Papers 2008 is a tool that gives you:
*
Information about 13 social issues affecting Canadian Communities
*
Sample questions to ask your candidates about social issues
*
Links to more resources
*
Inspiration to vote on October 14, 2008
By getting involved you can help shape the community in
which you live.
Canada Votes Papers 2008 is a pan-Canadian collaboration
between SPARC BC, Community Social Planning Council of Toronto, Community
Development Halton, Human Development Council St. John, and Canadian Council on
Social Development. Social planning organizations across the country are helping
to strengthen communities and work on social justice issues. We also recognize
the need to work together around key issues affecting our communities. We have
come together to provide this publication on the federal election because we
believe that democracy works best when citizens engage in dialogue on important
issues.
--
Tracey P. Lauriault
613-234-2805
https://gcrc.carleton.ca/confluence/display/GCRCWEB/Lauriault
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