CHANGES THE CLOWN FOR MAYOR OF VICTORIA! Changes the Clown has been hanging out with friends in the SUB at the University of Victoria over the last couple of days, joining in a couple of election campaign events organized by the UVic Student Society. On Wednesday, Ben and Changes were at a meet-and-greet event with table displays for all candidates (council and school board as well as mayor) in Victoria, Oak Bay and Saanich, and then on Thursday, Mitchell and Changes attended a question-and-answer forum for Victoria mayoral candidates. The session on Thursday was carried live on UVic CFUV Radio. Getting that message out! An AFFORDABLE CHILDCARE PROGRAM and a LIVING WAGE POLICY for Victoria! Changes doesn’t accept the claim that these things are not possible, and thinks we should get busy on ways to MAKE them possible. Yes that’s the status quo you hear moaning and groaning all around you! Part of the reason for holding civic election events on campus for two days involves the objective of increasing voter turnout, which as everyone knows is especially low among the younger age demographic. Voting is important for sure, but we need to bear in mind that we should be using the electoral system to work our way toward a better system! Changes believes that distressingly low voter turnouts communicate an emphatic message, an abstinence heavy with important meaning that shouldn’t be ignored. Large numbers of people have been stubbornly boycotting a system they see as dysfunctional, abstract and alienating. Increasing voter turnout will involve changing not the people nor their perceptions but the system, which desperately needs to be made more meaningful, for instance by integrating elements of direct democracy, maybe some combination of referenda and community assemblies that provide a venue for people to deliberate on, propose and potentially influence policy, outside of, in parallel with, what we now know as the electoral process. Or how about participatory budgeting, Plank #8 on the Changes for Mayor platform? There’s a whole universe of possibilities like these out there, folks, and we need to move on to something that makes democracy more meaningful for everyone! And in the meantime, Victoria is in the midst of an unacknowledged social crisis! 1 IN 5 CHILDREN AND 1 IN 2 CHILDREN OF SINGLE MOTHERS LIVE IN POVERTY IN VICTORIA, AND CHANGES THE CLOWN WANTS YOU TO JOIN HIM IN CALLING FOR SOMETHING TO BE DONE ABOUT THAT! https://facebook/pages/Changes-the-Clown-for-Mayor-of-Victoria/1466009747002350 worstincanada.org/?p=56 https://facebook/ClownsAgainstChildPoverty
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 06:52:05 +0000
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