Anita Vandenbeld on the "Fair" Elections Act

Anita Vandenbeld, past federal candidate in Ottawa West-Nepean and green lit candidate for the 2015 nomination has written a fantastic post for iPolitics about the "Fair" Elections Act and how regressive it truly is.

"The last time I worked in a country where a government used its majority in Parliament to ram through changes to an election law without public input was in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2011. I never would have expected this in Canada."

"I can honestly say that in all my years of working on democratic development with the United Nations, OSCE, NDI and other international organizations on five continents, I have not found another electoral commission that was prohibited by law from speaking to the public about elections or doing public awareness campaigns to encourage people to vote."

This is one of the best commentaries on the Harper-Poilievre scheme to make it harder for you to vote, I encourage you to share it widely.  

Haven't done one of these in awhile, a peek at early declared Liberal nomination candidates

Hey, before you take a look at who has come out of the wood work early to run for nominations, why don't you take a look at my policy on Common Ground, Encouraging Youth Voter Participation and Improving Civic Education? 


Lots of political space being paid attention to right now on the federal scene (and rightfully so) to the upcoming by-elections, the Throne Speech, CETA and the Senate, but I thought I'd do a blast from the past, and take a look at who has declared themselves running for a Liberal nomination for the 2015 election. 

The nomination process this time will be particularly interesting. Justin Trudeau has promised open nominations and if the by-elections are any indication (three of the four ridings saw contested nominations) we could see some wide open contests to be a Liberal candidate in the next election across Canada. Riding re-distribution is another factor, as more ridings means more nominations to be held, and intrigue (for all parties, really) where incumbents will run and which seats will be "open".

This post won't cover rumour or intrigue, just candidates who have openly declared they are running for a nomination either in the media or online. If you're supporting a candidate who has declared, feel free to leave your deets in the comments section. Let's get started with some ridings that even early on are seeing some competition.

Willowdale

Sonny Cho
http://sonnycho.ca/
https://www.facebook.com/GetToKnowSonny
https://www.facebook.com/GetToKnowSonny

Vincent Gasparro
http://www.vincegasparro.ca/
https://twitter.com/vgasparro

David Mousavi
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vote-David-for-Willowdale/516821751725319
https://twitter.com/DavidMousavi

Lily Pourzand
http://www.lilypourzand.ca/about/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lily-for-Willowdale/499118806843623

Willowdale seems to be a hot commodity, as it has drawn four declared candidates already!

Beaches-East York

Tom McGee
http://tommcgee.ca/meet-tom/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tom-McGee-for-Beaches-East-York/489701967792202
https://twitter.com/tommcgeeBEY

Jeff Rybak
http://www.jeffrybak.ca/
https://www.facebook.com/votejeffrybak

Ville-Marie

Marc Miller
http://marcmiller.ca/why-am-i-running/

Désirée McGraw
https://www.facebook.com/pages/D%C3%A9sir%C3%A9e-McGraw/228280297324201
https://twitter.com/Desiree_McGraw

And here are some non contested ones (as far as I could tell)

Etobicoke-Lakeshore

George Takach
http://www.vote4george.ca/
https://www.facebook.com/georgetakach
https://twitter.com/georgetakach

Markham-Stouffville

Jane Philpott  
http://janephilpott.ca/
https://www.facebook.com/janepaulinephilpott
https://twitter.com/janephilpott

Mississauga South/Mississauga-Lakeshore
(right now it's Mississauga South, but the final redistribution report alters the boundaries somewhat and changes the name of the riding)

Julie Desjardins
http://www.mississauga.com/news-story/4079645-desjardins-seeks-liberal-nomination-in-mississauga-south

Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill

Jason Cherniak
http://www.jasoncherniak.ca/
https://www.facebook.com/liberaljason
https://twitter.com/Cherniak

Dorval-Lachine

Alain Berinstain
http://alain.ca/
https://www.facebook.com/AlainDorvalLachine
https://twitter.com/alainbb

Scarborough North

Logan Kanapathi
http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/4146802-markham-councillor-to-seek-liberal-nomination/

Scarborough South West

Amy Robichaud
http://www.amyrobichaud.ca/
https://www.facebook.com/Amy4SSW
https://twitter.com/Amy_Robichaud

Richmond Hill

Brian Chamberlain
https://www.facebook.com/ChamberlainRichmondHill

Scarborough-Rouge Park

Gary Anandasangaree
http://voteforgary.ca/


And last, but certainly not least...

Ottawa West-Nepean

Anita Vandenbeld
https://www.facebook.com/ElectAnita
https://twitter.com/anitavandenbeld

I'll drop any pretence of neutrality I have here and say that it is great to see Anita running again. I served as youth co-chair of her campaign in 2011, designed her lawn signs and generated most of the content at http://youthforanita.blogspot.ca/.  

Check out my new tumblr for all my political graphic design projects!

http://williamnorman88.tumblr.com/

Featuring graphic design projects done for the Charles Sousa leadership campaign, Anita Vandenbeld's campaign for Ottawa West-Nepean, various Young Liberal clubs, and more. I'll be updating it from time to time as well.

Comments on Ottawa Sun article show what we're up against in Ottawa West-Nepean

A look at the thoughts of the Tory base on Anita winning the nomination. I know seeing attitudes like this makes me want to campaign twice as hard to elect a progressive government:


"..feminism stands as an excellent example of a 1960's movement that blossomed from the seeds that Communist women germinated thirty years earlier"

"LMAO...the best you can come up with is yet ANOTHER Man Hating feminist? Like Global Warming, Radical Man Hating Feminism is dead. All western Nations are just now starting to reverse the damages to their populations because of that goofy "Feminst Experiment". Surely the Liberal Party is not SO OUT OF TOUCH that they cannot find a candidate with a bit more to bring to the fore instead of just RANTINGS of another ANGRY WOMAN???"

"Good lord not another rabid special interest taking a run at the windmill"

"... is not a woman's right expert another name for Lesbian"

You stay classy, Tory base

One week to go!

http://www.youthforanita.blogspot.com/

Only one week remains before the vote for the federal Liberal nomination for Ottawa West-Nepean, and the energy around Anita's campaign is great. Anita had another of her successful Starbucks meet and greets yesterday, talking with lots of great Liberals and lots of interested non-Liberals who have been drawn to the positive energy of her campaign, and later today I'll be going to a campaign meeting to prep for the nomination day. We've got a great youth team, and I'm grateful so many people have volunteered time and energy for the nomination campaign to try and help to elect a real champion for youth engagement.

Stay tuned to the Youth for Anita Vandenbeld blog throughout the week for all your nomination info!

Support Anita on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Anita-Vandenbeld-for-Ottawa-West-Nepean/117490804958455
Let's try and break 300 likes before nomination day!

Anita on Twitter: http://twitter.com/anitavandenbeld

And Anita's campaign website: http://www.electanita.ca/

Great youth support for Anita Vandenbeld!

http://youthforanita.blogspot.com/p/endorsements.html

We've got more endorsements up from youth across Ottawa who are rallying behind Anita's campaign. Anita is a champion for youth engagement, and has been heads and shoulders above the other candidates in having youth play a leadership role in her campaign. Join our team and help get Anita nominated on the 28th!

FB event for the nomination: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=153624181348800

And make sure to support Anita on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Anita-Vandenbeld-for-Ottawa-West-Nepean/117490804958455

And Twitter: http://twitter.com/anitavandenbeld

Carleton Equal Voice Chapter launch party a great success!

Anita Vandenbeld's youth campaign chair has her take on the event: http://youthforanita.blogspot.com/2010/11/carleton-equal-voice-chapter-launch-and.html


As an executive on the Carleton Equal Voice Chapter, I was thrilled with how well attended the launch event was. As guest speakers we had Hon. Michael Chong, Hon, Carolyn Bennett, and Niki Ashton MP, who all had interesting things to say about how we need to change Canadian politics and get more women involved. I'm honoured to be involved both with Equal Voice's Carleton chapter, and with Anita Vandenbeld's campaign to help elect a strong women to Parliament.

A great youth endorsement for Anita Vandenebeld

http://youthforanita.blogspot.com/2010/11/great-youth-endorsement-for-anita.html

With the campaign getting into crunch time, it's great to see a campaign that not only reaches out and engages youth, but has them play a real leadership role. Anita's campaign and her efforts to involve youth in the political process have Young Liberals all across Ottawa talking! Join us on Nov 28th and elect a champion for youth, Anita Vandenbeld!

Thoughtful and inspiring words from Anita Vandenbeld on her thoughts on Remembrance Day

http://youthforanita.blogspot.com/2010/11/sixty-five-years-ago-in-deventer.html

An incredible post from Anita Vandenbeld discussing her personal feelings and connections to Remembrance Day, including her thoughts as a Dutch-Canadian on the 65 anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands, her family connections to Canada's armed forces, and the value which Anita places on the role of Canada's military and peacekeeping tradition as someone who helped promote democracy in war-torn states. An amazing read.

Ottawa West-Nepean nomination called! Support Anita Vandenbeld on November 28th!

Regular readers of my blog know that I talk a lot about nomination news, and I have some big news today, the Ottawa West-Nepean Liberal nomination has been called!

I've been very involved with a great candidate for the nomination, Anita Vandenbeld. Anita is a long-time Liberal, and has worked for the United Nations and other international organizations to promote democracy and women's rights across the world, and is running to help defend and restore the value of democratic participation and women in government from a Conservative government that has abused our democratic institutions.

You can get more info on Anita's campaign by following the Youth for Anita blog (which I contribute to): http://youthforanita.blogspot.com/

Becoming a fan on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Anita-Vandenbeld-for-Ottawa-West-Nepean/117490804958455

Following her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/anitavandenbeld

And of course, visiting her website: http://www.electanita.ca/

Let's elect a champion for Ottawa West-Nepean!