BROKEN PROMISES

Volunteers out in full force for literature drop in Mill Woods

By Paula Stein

Newspaper articles, Rutherford Show exposure, phone calls, word-of-mouth, enlisting of friends and family....all of these contributed to a successful literature drop in Mill Woods on August 22.  The object of this drop: exposing the broken election promises of Carl Benito the Progressive Conservative who, unfortunately, was elected in this constituency.  But he won’t be again as the constituency will be back in the fold of the Alberta Liberal Party after the next election!

The success of the literature drop was made possible through the assistance of approximately 50 Liberal volunteers from across the city, as well as the combined efforts of Alberta Liberal Party (ALP) and the Edmonton Mill Woods Constituency Association. For their efforts on behalf of ALP, Erick Ambtman and Corey Hogan deserve lots of credit, and a huge vote of thanks. And volunteering their time on behalf of the Mill Woods Constituency Association were Judy Axelson, Joyce Assen, Neil Evans, Mel Regalbutto, Weslyn Mather and Paula Stein. To the volunteers who came from every corner of Edmonton – THANK YOU!

Volunteers gathered at the North Millbourne Community Hall at 1:30pm to meet and receive their bundle of brochures and a map. The organization and bundling of the brochures and the provision of the maps is a credit to the work, time and energy of Judy Axelson and Joyce Assen. What a great job they did! Once small groups were organized, off they went to deliver the information to households in the constituency.

While the volunteers were off doing their deliveries, other volunteers stayed behind to prepare the hot dogs and pop for the returning groups. After a couple of hours, as these groups returned, folks were invited to enjoy hot dogs and pop as a thank you for their efforts. Mel Elsalhy did a super job on the grill, assisted by Joyce Assen.

People were able to sit and mingle and chat as North Millbourne Hall has a great patio area, excellent for just such a gathering. In a matter of about three hours everything was done. What super organization yielding such an excellent result!!

View photos on our Flickr Photostream at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/albertaliberals/

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Alberta Young Liberal elected Vice-President of international organization

The International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY) wrapped up meetings today in St. Petersburg on Sunday by electing Mateusz Trybowski from the Alberta Young Liberals (AYL) as a new Bureau Vice-President.

“This event brought our Federation forward in two ways: we adopted our biannual plan of action and elected Mateusz to take part in achieving our goals as VP of the Bureau,” explained IFLRY President, Bart Woord. “I am sure Mateusz will be a great asset to our work in promoting freedom and democracy around the world.”

The International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY) is the international liberal youth community’s most important forum for cooperation. It is composed of more than ninety liberal youth organizations from every continent in the world. IFLRY’s policies are based on the belief in the universality and indivisibility of human rights.

Trybowski, an outreach coordinator for the AYL, is the third Canadian to hold a post in the IFLRY Bureau since 2005. “This speaks volumes about the respect that liberal youth hold around the world for Canada.”

More than 38 member organizations participated in IFLRY’s General Assembly in St. Petersburg. It also coincided with a seminar on youth and minority group inclusion. These themes featured prominently in Trybowski’s plenary address and platform.

“As a Young Liberal from Canada, I have been fortunate enough to live in a society where everyone has equal rights and freedoms and opportunities to engage in all aspects of civic and political life. These principles will guide my efforts in creating new and more accessible opportunities for participation in IFLRY seminars and activities,” said Trybowski. 

For more information, please visit the IFLRY website (http://iflry.org) / Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/iflry?ref=ts)

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Election Readiness Constituency Reports: Edmonton-Millwoods

The Mill Woods Constituency Association is already gearing itself up for the next election. We have a number of projects on the go ourselves, and also in conjunction with ALP. In chronological order, we, along with ALP, are presently engaged in an effort to reveal to the public the duplicity practiced by the PC MLA Carl Benito. As a result of Maurice Tougas’s two explosive articles in SEE Magazine, followed by Trish Audette’s and Graham Thompson’s Journal articles, followed by two Rutherford Show discussions, Benito is under fire for broken promises...big ones. Members of our association have provided Maurice with information and correspondence revealing Benito’s intransigence. In addition, members in Mill Woods have written letters to the editor of the Journal and provided information to Rutherford in order to keep the issue bubbling.

In terms of election preparation, we have our wonderful Deven Kumar who is helping with media projects. He is preparing a website that will feature articles of interest, interviews, blogs, and information. He is aiming for articles that will be current, and created in accordance with Canadian Press protocol so we can provide information to the media and assist them in giving us wider media exposure.
Mill Woods is also getting ready for a nomination meeting. Weslyn Mather, our former MLA, has expressed her interest in being the candidate. We could not do better than to have Weslyn run again in Mill Woods. She has been sorely missed. Weslyn and volunteers have already been out door knocking and they have been warmly received by constituents.
The Constituency Association will be enjoying a pot luck supper and meeting in September - a chance to socialize and enjoy a morale boost. Also in September, we are looking forward to the ALP Connections dinner and silent auction. Two of our members - Judith Axelson and Joyce Assen - are coordinating the auction efforts. Joyce has also taken the lead in organizing our November 10th fundraising dinner to be held at The Palace. Tickets are $50 and a tax receipt is available. The Palace is going to prepare a fantastic supper, David Swann will be our special guest, and we are still formulating other ideas to make November 10th a great evening.
We have been busy, and it feels great to prepare to take back our constituency.
Best regards,
Paula Stein
President, Edmonton-Mill Woods Constituency Association