An evening with John Weston & Jason Kenney

Well, we're officially off to the races!

Thank you so much to everyone who attended the reception with our local MP John Weston and Jason Kenney, Minister of Immigration, at my home on March 11th. It was great to connect with everyone, hear the updates from the hill, and have some fun!

Photos

Thanks so much to Cat Barr for capturing some photo highlights from the event and posting them in the March 17th North Shore Outlook. Great to see Conservatives having a good time!

Volunteering

We have a lot of work to do to get John re-elected, and a great new office space to work from. Pop down for a visit at 2429 Marine Drive in West Vancouver. To find out how you can get involved as a volunteer - fundraising, signs, get-out-the-vote etc., please contact Catharine Johnston at catharine@cgjohnston.com or April Accola at aprilaccola@telus.net.

Donations

And all of the signs, phone systems, mailings etc. cost a lot of money. Please donate today to help us win the election! All donations are tax receiptable according to CRA guidelines:

www.seatoskyconservative.com.

See you on the campaign trail!

Its Time to Change the Culture of Entitlement

Thank you so much to those of you who came out to our lunch with Bill Gairdner, author of The Trouble with Canada...Still. My apologies to those of you who weren't able to attend - I had a technical glitch with our recording and so haven't been able to put up a podcast on my iTunes channel. But I've learned my lesson!

Anyway, for those of you who are still looking for a copy of his book, I've just checked www.chapters.ca and it looks like there are 7 left in the lower mainland - 6 at the Broadway and Granville store and 1 at Brentwood Mall. I'm still waiting for the copy that I ordered on-line : ) We've hooked Bill up with another possible publisher and so we shall await some good news that he is back up and running, and in print again.

I've been thinking a lot about Bill's message about changing the culture of entitlement, and agree that that is where we all need to focus our efforts. As politicians clearly have no incentive to say no to those who ask them for money, the only hope that we have is to change the culture of popular opinion, which in turn may change the policy platfoms from which governments operate.

Perhaps now is a good time for us all to work on those within our circle of influence to encourage more understanding around the appropriate role of government, and how everyone would benefit by government pulling out of programs it should not be involved in (and aren't very good at). This would allow more room for the private sector, community groups, and volunteers to stake a greater role in building the kind of compassionate society we all want to live in.

On that note, Dambisa Moyo's latest book "How the West Was Lost" outlines how our culture of entitlement (and the mis-guided policies that support it) have harmed our economies nearly beyond repair, when compared with the relative success and high growth rates of China, India, and others. You can order your copy of her book at www.chapters.ca, and if you're interested in attending our next event with her on April 4th, you can register through www.bonmotclub.com.

Lunch with Calvin Helin discussing "The Economic Dependency Trap"

Over forty years ago my parents moved to a small native reserve in northern Alberta to teach in a one room schoolhouse. They taught as best they could, but spent much of their time helping the kids survive the abuse and extreme poverty rampant in the community. Forty years later that generation has grown up, but not much else has changed.

A few years ago I met native lawyer Calvin Helin who opened my eyes to the scope of  harm caused by government-sponsored poverty. He wants to change these circumstances, and if anyone can, I'd place my bets on him. With a gentle spirit and a passionate intellect, this six times best-selling author of Dances with Dependency: Out of Poverty through Self-Reliance, has become quite the force as an outspoken advocate for aboriginal empowerment.

I've asked him to join me for lunch at the Vancouver Club to discuss his latest project The Economic Dependency Trap, and sign some copies of his book. I hope you'll join me, but do come prepared to be swept up in his revolution!


The Economic Dependency Trap:
Breaking Free to Self-Reliance
From urban public housing projects to impoverished reservations, middle class suburban neighbourhoods to Bay Street, economic dependency has become a serious pandemic. Just what is economic dependency? It is the inability to become financially self-reliant, because government programs aren't just a temporary help - they're a permanent crutch. Today, economic dependency has become a way of life for millions of North Americans.

In the US, approximately 20 percent of the population relies on the government for daily housing, food, and health care, and one in six Americans is now being served by at least one government anti-poverty program. Most troubling of all, one out of every five children is now living in poverty.

But Calvin Helin - attorney, entrepreneur, and recognized authority on poverty, not only wants to expose this reality, he wants to reverse it.
  

"Calvin Helin's epic study of dependence and the physical, mental, as well as spiritual harm it spreads among its victims is a revolutionary document. A leading First Nations lawyer, the son of a fisherman, and very much a self-made intellectual and reluctant advocate, Calvin speaks for his people from the heart and from the gut. The collected wisdom in this book will lift the burden and let the sunshine in."           - Peter C. Newman

 

Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The Vancouver Club
UBC Room, 3rd Floor
11:45 am  Registration & casual sandwich buffet
12:15 pm  Serious intellectual stimulation
1:30 pm    Back to work!
$45.00      
REGISTER NOW* Advance registration only - this link will also take you to the Bon Mot Book Club site - please note this is a separate event from that series : 

We Day 2010

Congratulations to Lorne Segal and his team for producing a truly remarkable event to get young people engaged in their community! They're doing it again in Vancouver on October 15th and bringing in speakers including the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Martin Sheen, Rick Hansen, and...well, Al Gore (you can't win them all)! I encourage those of you with teenagers to try and get them involved through their schools - check out www.weday.com.

An Evening with Diana Krall, Elton John, James Taylor, Elvis Costello, and Sarah McLaughlin!

Thanks so much to Malcolm Parry for taking this photo of David & I and publishing it in Vancouver View this month!

The fundraiser, organized by Diana Krall in memory of her mother who died of cancer, was particularly special for me to be a part of. Having just lost my mother as well, it brought back a flood of memories...