Political Advocacy

John Sushelnitsky, Chair, Political Advocacy

Part of the mandate of the Political Advocacy Committee is to do assignments sent to it by the Board, but another part of the mandate is to keep the Board informed of trends and events which may impact our members and our organization. It is this flexibility that allows the PA committee to be the “eyes and ears” of our organization regarding the larger world community of which we are a part.

So, how do we use that flexibility? We encourage our Chapters to do activities that highlight the United Nations Day of the Older Persons, which falls every year on October 1. Whether we have the mayor of our town declare a Proclamation recognizing the contributions senior citizens have and are making, or bring cookies to school classes , or join with senior centres to host workshops explaining government services, each RTAM member could do something to enrich the community in which they live.

In line with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendations, the RTAM Board passed a motion, last March, to provide a bursary to an Indigenous student pursuing post high school education. The bursary is being administered by the University College of the North, centred in The Pas. It falls in line with bursaries offered by the Manitoba Teachers’ Society and the Manitoba Association of School Superintendents. The University College will choose the student based on a detailed application form and will keep RTAM informed on the student’s progress. The $1,000 bursary will cost Members about ten cents of the $36.00 we pay each year. It is truly “a hand up, not a hand out.”

The PA Committee has informed you of the experiment going on in British Columbia. With many voters disenchanted with the “first-pastthe-post system” (FPTP) which allows political parties to get more than 50% of the seats with only 30% of the vote, there has been a search for a system that gives any political party a fair share of the seats; 30% of the votes gives you 30% of the seats ”proportional representation (PR).” Most countries in the world have adopted this fairer system, but not Canada, the United States or Great Britain.

Recently, in BC, there was a referendum to determine which of the two system voters preferred. The result: six out of ten chose (fptp) and four chose PR. Not bad for a first time choice! In fact, before he was elected prime minister, Mr. Trudeau declared that the last election would be the last time for fptp. Whatever changed his mind, Mr. Trudeau is now comfortable with a system that favours the main parties.

That flexibility allows us to report on global trends, such as the growing disparity in wealth between the very rich in society and the rest of us, the economic grip corporations have on our lives and the gender inequality that exists in the workplace.

In brief, the Political Advocacy Committee does what it is asked to do by the Board, but it also has a role to play in keeping the Board and our RTAM members informed of the forces which shape our lives as citizens of Canada and the world. 