Ridings – Consensus NB

Consensus NB

As an introduction, here is a high-level understanding of our updated system for riding offices with their volunteers, employees, candidates, and when successful, MLA’s...

Candidates and volunteers in the broadest sense, act and work for the best interests of all the people in the ridings they live in and want to represent. In all ridings Consensus NB members begin recruiting volunteers and go into their communities to recruit other volunteers and candidates, organize membership drives, spread the word about updating New Brunswick’s old outdated government party politics system and what Consensus NB is trying to accomplish.

The process involves organizing discussions with community members and groups active across the whole socio-economic spectrum of the riding’s constituency, to listen, to hear concerns, to document issues, and also to listen and document the solutions people on the ground are using and promoting to deal with the issues they face.

What it means in the practical sense is organizing public assemblies to gather the data on the issues and solutions to everyday life issues within the boundaries of their region, and how they interact with others within, and across other ridings as well.

Here is the link to ElectionsNB electoral map. The ridings were re-drawn last year. Select to see which riding you now reside.
https://www.electionsnb.ca/content/enb/en/maps/PED/provincial-electoral-distircts1.html

JOB DESCRIPTION

How Consensus NB Is Different

The job description of the 49 Future NB MLA’s and Riding Offices (representing approximately 11,663 voting people and their families):

Understand the role of representing the collective will of all people in the riding.
Work to develop a clear understanding of all issues affecting everyday people living within the boundaries of the riding represented.
Schedule and attend regular Townhall like meetings and other public forums in person or online around the riding to gather input from residents.
Each MLA once elected has the single responsibility to represent the consensus majority positions in their riding on each issue and to speak and vote that way in the legislature.
If the MLA fails to operate in this way, the MLA can be recalled by voters in his/her riding.

They can be replaced by someone who will represent the riding faithfully.

“It’s a historical moment that we’ve been waiting for decades. This whole system needs to change.”
“We have all missed real democracy, of being together and embracing hope for a better future for everyone.”
“Change starts with us – common people common ”
“We will no longer talk about identities; we will talk about achievements,”
“We will no longer talk about divisions and differences; we will speak of our commonality and our common dreams.
“Will you join us in this campaign for change?”
“Volunteers needed for each ”

An informed electorate is the main goal and driver of each Consensus NB Party Riding Office. The riding office is the hub center of activities supporting the MLA and the people of the riding.

The “Working For You” job description includes:

Working to develop a clear understanding of all peoples living in the boundaries of the riding represented and gather data on all aspects of life in the constituency to include:

Towns, cities, service districts — Health services, (hospitals, clinics, numbers of drs., rns., ratios per, ambulance service) —Education services, (schools, teachers, student ratios per). —Fire and Rescue services — Infrastructure awareness (roads, bridges, flood analysis topography, wharfs, ferries, sewer and water services) — Socio economic conditions — Numbers and types of businesses — Tourism and tourist locations — Economic and business opportunity — Land and tax assessment — Natural resources — Farmers, fishermen, woodlot owners, non-profit organizations (everything practically possible to know and quantify about the constituency and the 11,663 voters and their families residing within).

Schedule regular public meetings and online forums.

Reach out to all community groups within the riding to understand those group activities and facilitate provincial support and resources available to help in those endeavours.

Reach out to the business community and understand the economic drivers in the riding represented.

The task at hand is setting up 49 Consensus NB Party Riding offices. The most important work in the beginning is to remove the party politics in New Brunswick so people can take back their government within the democratic process we have.

Everybody knows or feels that changes are needed

The last 80 years of political parties and see/saw party governments in New Brunswick has not provided the change or flexibility needed to deal with the issues of the day today — in fact, many understand it is the see/saw parties and politics that have created many of the issues we face.

Our task is to show that a consensus governance structure will much better address locally, as well as provincially, the issues we are confronted with by “decentralizing decision-making and localizing solutions where the people feel that they are heard and understood and given the resources to address the issues at hand locally.”

This task must happen in each riding repeated 49 times across the province. Today similar processes are happening with each of the legacy political parties fielding candidates for the election as they present their platforms and look for voters support.

The People in the Ridings.

We are now in election mode in New Brunswick with a short window of opportunity to establish riding offices and candidates for an election. We are under no illusion that there is an incredible amount of work to be accomplished in a short time. It will require people donating time and money, volunteering and talking to the people of each riding. Each riding must self support itself in this process. The money raised in the riding stays in the riding so people know that their financial contributions stay there working for them.

What it really means is grassroots organizing in each riding with people motivated and inspired enough to commit some volunteer time and money to make it happen.

People talking to their friends and neighbours, volunteers working to get the message out that consensus governance will benefit them locally in the short term, as well as for the long-term well-being of future generations in the whole province.

Our platform is system change and an end to party politics.

The message is simple. Either we continue with the same party system see/saw governments with the continued march to more centralization, privatization and top down corporate control, — or we support a decentralized bottom up locally driven initiative that puts power and decision-making back into citizens hands, with no parties, no party politics, no deceptions and no confusions pitting people against each other.

That is ‘the’ election decision we present to the voters of New Brunswick, asking for their participation and voting support. It must come from the bottom up with people involvement and a shared goal of changing the old system and levelling the playing field for ‘everyone’ to be successful.

It is a clear, simple vision and message to deliver.

At this point, in the election cycle, more money and financial contributions are necessary to compete with the established party’s money machines and their head start. Public meetings need to occur, hall rentals, advertising, printing all cost money to mount an effective campaign to get the message out as a viable alternative to the old sea/saw party politics way things work today.

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