Saanich Matters
e-Bulletin
Our Work So Far
June 2010 New directors elected at AGM. These folk will lead league into the next municipal election. AGM guest speaker Mark Boyson, Saanich Sustainability Co-ordinator, explains Saanich’s new Climate Action Plan, asking: How can the District of Saanich help citizens set and achieve our own climate action goals? See Saanich Climate Action Plan http://www.saanich.ca/living/climate/plan.html
May 2010 Pre-dinner tour of Haliburton Community Organic Farm is highlight of our second Democracy Dinner. Former Central Saanich Councillor Zeb King and Order of Canada recipient Vicky Husband lead conversation on the Vantreight development proposal before Central Saanich Council. More at
http://www.saanichcivicleague.ca/pdf/Food-Farm-Future-Democracy-Dinner-Report.pdf
April 2010 League’s first-ever Democracy Dinner a huge success. Based on the evening’s conversation, SCL submits recommendations to provincial Task Force on Local (municipal / school board) Electoral Reform. More at
http://www.saanichcivicleague.ca/pdf/SCL-Submits-to-Election-Task-Force-April2010.pdf
January 2010 - Council responses to the CRD question are added to the website. The SCL community is notified to check out the responses.
December 2009 - SCL sends a request to the Saanich mayor and councillors to provide a short statement on the current plans for sewage treatment in the CRD. The question was posed "What aspects do you feel are of the greatest importance to Saanich residents?". Responses are received from a majority of Council.
June 2009 SCL sends request to the Saanich mayor and councillors to respond to the following question. "SCL requests your comments on the current plans and process for sewage treatment in the CRD. Please cover those aspects you feel are of the greatest importance to Saanich residents". No responses were received from any councillor.
March 29, 2009 League’s first AGM, new Board of Directors elected. AGM followed by packed house free Public Forum on provincial (May 12) Electoral Reform referendum. Forum sponsored by Saanich Civic League and Columbia Institute with thanks to UVSS and panelists.
January 24, 2009. SCL Year Two - Where Do We Go From Here? workshop
Dec 5, 2008 A packed house at Saanich Municipal Hall for elected councillors' swearing in. SCL congratulates all candidates and elected council, adding - on behalf of Saanich citizens, SCL will be watching you.
Nov 30, 2008 Steering Committee debriefs, reflecting on SCL successes and challenges in its formative first year.
Nov 15, 2008. Election Day.
Members and supporters celebrate SCL's first year non-partisan efforts at Election Results Party as the vote comes in.
League is the first to post Election '08 results on SCL website.
Voter turnout increased from 19% in 2005 to 20.6% in 2008. 1500 more Saanich citizens cast their ballot which is a 10% increase in the number of Saanich voters voting municipally.
In November 2,236 new visitors turned to the Saanich Civic League website for municipal election information. 546 new, unique visitors used site on E-Day.
Nov 14 & 15, 2008. Teams of volunteers brave early morning traffic and afternoon rain at busy Saanich intersectionns to wave non-partisan VoteVoteVote placards and distribute How & Where to vote information.
Nov 8, 2008. VoteVoteVote. Civic league volunteers distribute non-partisan How To Vote information outside two Saanich rec centres.
Some community associations and individuals download from SCL website easy-to-print voter information brochure from SCL site to distribute door to door in their neighbourhoods. That's civic engagement - thank you!
Nov 5 & 10, 2008. Advance Polls. SCL members and E-news subscribers forward Advance Poll reminder widely.
Nov 4, 2008. I Can Vote Municipally? UVic Student Society and SCL co-host a mobilizing the student vote event at UVic.
November 3, 2008. SCL member poll asking: Do you intend to vote municipally? In advance poll or on E-day? Did you vote municipally in 2005? Your best source of election information this year? 71% of E-Day survey respondents say their best source for information was the Saanich Civic League website.
October 31, 2008. First-ever Saanich Council Voting Record released to SCL free E-news subscribers, members, media and on SCL website to an overwhelmingly positive response from Saanich voters and citizens throughout the region. CVR represents six months' research /analysis by SCL sub-committee.
October 22, 2008. Count yourself in. SCL Citizens Survey goes online. 74% of Saanich Civic League door-to-door survey respondents and 89% of on-line respondents said they needed more information to make an informed vote in this election.
October 18, 2008. Meet the Candidates. Candidate profiles on Saanich Civic League website.
October 10, 2008. Candidate nomination deadline. In a Saanich-election-first, nomination papers including nominators’ names posted on District Saanich website
http://www.gov.saanich.bc.ca/municipal/clerks/election.html
October 2008: Municipal election countdown. An estimated 7,000 UVic students may be eligible to vote municipally in Saanich. SCL plans on-campus Get the Vote Out activities with UVic student organizations. SCL community presentations popular. Thanks to these community associations for inviting us to speak: Cadboro Bay, Cordova Bay, Gorge Tillicum, Mount View Colquitz, Quadra Cedar Hill, Royal Oak, SCAN, Strawberry Vale, Unitarian church.
September 2008: Will un-expected federal election distract voters from all-important municipal election, pundits ask. Demand requires SCL 10 Guiding Values brochure re-print. SaanichMatters E-Bulletins respond to residents’ questions on the doorstep: What does Council do? What is the CRD?
August 2008: Door knocking for democracy. Trained volunteers step up the response to SCL Citizen (civic engagement) Survey door to door in their neighbourhoods. Neighbourhoods spot surveyed this month – Broadmead, Cadboro Bay, Cloverdale, Cordova Bay, Gordon Head, Mt Doug, Portage Inlet, Royal Oak, Strawberry Vale, Tattersall, Ten Mile Point. Thanks to all surveyors, including one featured on Saanich News front page. SaanichMatters Civic League Gets Out Vote http://saanichcivicleague.ca/bulletin.html
July 2008: Research begins on Council Voting Record: a non-partisan snapshot of how mayor and councillors voted on Motions relevant to Saanich Civic League Values. Watch for release on SCL website prior to Nov 15 municipal election. To do your own review - Minutes of Council, Committee of the Whole, and Public Hearings for 2004 to 2008 at http://www.gov.saanich.bc.ca/municipal/clerks/agendamin.html
On-the-spot surveying at Saanich summer events incites conversations about what citizens’ value about living here and what we want for the region’s future.
New SCL website offers on-line capability to join / donate using PayPal, or send cheques by mail. Memberships and donations crucial for web updates, survey/civic engagement materials.
June 2008: SCL co-sponsored the standing-room-only public forum From Paralysis to Action: Engaging Our Neighbours in a New Kind of Politics. Guelph Civic League president Annie O’Donoghue described how Canada’s first contemporary civic league is changing the face of municipal politics and increasing voter turnout in that city. Dogwood Initiative Executive Director Will Horter presented the hopeful imperative – why a citizen shift at the local level is needed now. Budd Hall, Chair of UVic’s Office for Community-based Research, moderated a Q&A discussion in which participants showed a particular interest in Council Voting Records. See SaanichMatters E-bulletin June 23.
April 2008: SCL members and volunteers knocked on doors in our neighbourhoods to test the Saanich Civic League Citizen Survey. Surveyors reported an enormous appetite for information about municipal matters. People wanted to talk at length about their civic concerns and what they desire for their community.
November 2007: At a What Are Our Common Values workshop, Saanich citizens voiced 110 values, goals, and issues that make, or could make, Saanich an amazing municipality. We then distilled the list into 10 Common Values to guide SCL’S first year’s work.
The vast majority:
• wanted more information on what municipal government does, and what our Council is and is not doing;
• agreed that increased engagement in municipal matters is important;
• felt Saanich Civic League is on the right track; and
• said Yes, send me Saanich Civic League’s E-Bulletin news.
Next Steps
Tune in! Join us! Or, sign on for a free subscription to SaanichMatters E-news for SCL Year Two events, and discussion on civic engagement at the local level.
Now is the time to re-invent citizenship in Saanich!