On Sunday, January 16, 2016, four new CCL Vancouver members received their official CCL group start training. We now have very active CCL members in the ridings of the Honourable Hedy Fry (Vancouver Centre), the Honourable Joyce Murray (Vancouver Quadra) and Jenny Quan (Vancouver East). Vancouver, British Columbia is Canada’s third largest city after Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec.
I lead the CCL Group Start training from Sudbury, Ontario via Skype. In the last 15 minutes of the Group Start, CCL Nelson-West Kootenay’s group leader, Laura Sacks Skyped in and discussed various initiatives in British Columbia. Here are just two things happening provincially with CCL BC members:
- A Hike the Tax cartoon campaign: Since 2012, the beloved BC Carbon Tax has been frozen at $30 per tonne. The Hike the Tax cartoon is 99% finished. CCL BC plans to use it creatively in their efforts to help create the political will for a nationally integrated Carbon Fee and Dividend policy in Canada.
- BC media team Google group: they point out relevant articles to submit letters to the editor to as well as support and mentor each other and share their successes when letters are written or published.
This was my first time using videoconferencing technology for a Group Start. It must have been effective because Marlo, Jay, Jonathan and Tanner immediately got to work.
They had already set up an appointment to lobby one of their MPs, with goals to lobbying all of their MPs. They were also well aware of our Lobbying Tool Kit found on our Volunteer Resources page. As well, one of them is lobbying internally within a political party to help form effective climate policies using methodologies and updated policy resolutions from previous efforts by CCL members.
Jay recently had letters to the editor published in the Peterborough Examiner, the Toronto Sun and the Winnipeg Sun. Again the Toronto Sun editor* agreed carbon fee and dividend is the best carbon-pricing policy.
In January 2014 and each year thereafter, as well as in our Letters to the Editor kit, we have encouraged CCL members to submit the same letter to the editor to multiple newspapers. Much national content is syndicated in newspapers, especially in the former Sunmedia chain. CCL Nelson mentoring has obviously included the suggestion to submitting letters to multiple papers and I am incredibly for such transformational leadership in Canada.
Welcome Marlo, Jay, Tanner and Jonathan to CCL Canada and thank you Laura and CCL Nelson-West Kootenay for the obviously amazing mentorship to our new recruits. At moments like this I feel we are are becoming too connected to fail.
