Upcoming meeting and a new website

Things are starting to get going with Reason Vancouver!

We have our first board of directors, our initial constitution, we are now registered as a society in BC, and we have a new web presence (and several associated domain names).

At our next meeting, which will happen before the next Vancouver Skeptics in the Pub Downtown at 6:00PM until 7:30PM in the Railway Club (above the 7/11 on Dunsmuir at Seymour Street), we will have to approve a bank and membership fee, and discuss further our policy positions as they start to coalesce.

So be sure to drop by if you’re interested and stick around for SiTP after, which is always a good time.

Also, make sure to update your links, this website won’t be around for much longer and the new website will be at reasonvancouver.ca but for now you can access it at reasonvancouver.com

Name change and updates

We had another organizational meeting this past weekend and we’ve agreed upon a few things.

1. The name of this movement is being changed from Vancouver Secular Party to Reason Vancouver, to better reflect the broad policy base that we’re developing.
2. Name filling and incorporation as a society should take place ASAP. We’ve had our societal name approved and once our Bylaws are finished and signed our paperwork will all be submitted.
3. Once the paperwork is in we’ll set up our website and a bank account so we can begin collecting memberships and building the party.

These are exciting times, make sure you contact our chair, Ian Bushfield, if you want to be involved.!

Meeting change!

****DATE AND VENUE CHANGE FOR TUESDAY’S MEETING*****

The meeting will now be taking place this SUNDAY (tomorrow) at Ian’s condo.

We’ll be heading there after the BCHA meeting so meet me there if you need to find your way.

Call Ian at 604-565-3234 or email him for directions.

VSP at the BC Humanists

Ian Bushfield will be giving a talk this Sunday at the weekly BC Humanist Association meeting on the party. The meeting takes place Sunday, September 19th from 9:30-11:30 am the Oakridge Seniors Centre.

Here’s the abstract for the talk:

Humanist Politics: The Vancouver Secular Party

Pat Duffy Hutcheon wrote years ago that Humanists need to move beyond the stale debate over Left or Right-wing politics and begin to develop a rational-based approach to working to better society. 15 years later and many of the same debates over socialism and libertarianism are still occurring between humanists. With the Christian right gaining influence in Canada and religious schools receiving funds, it is time to set aside our differences and unite behind a single, secular banner. With the system strongly biased against new parties at the provincial and federal levels, a group of secularists have come together to form the Vancouver Secular Party, with the goal of attaining a status of electoral organization to run candidates in the 2011 Vancouver municipal election.

Next meeting – Sept 21

Come out to our second organizational meeting for the Vancouver Secular Party.

On the agenda for this month’s meeting are:
1. Finalizing the name (alternate suggestions welcome)
2. Registering as a society
3. Approving bylaws
4. Assigning officer roles
5. Reviewing and adding to our policy document
6. Timeline for our next events

I should also mention that on the September 19th, Ian will be speaking about this project to the BC Humanists at their weekly morning brunch at the Oakridge Seniors Centre at 9:30 am. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Let me know if I missed anything or if we need to add anything.

All our documents are available on the google group: http://groups.google.ca/group/vansecular (email Ian at thzatheist@gmail.com if you can’t access this).

Skeptics in the Pub will follow our meeting, so be sure to stick around after.

A successful first meeting

We had our first meeting last night and I want to thank everyone (about 15 people) who came out.

After some discussion, we came to the agreement that going ahead with a civic political party dedicated to reason and secularism is a novel and much needed approach.

We are thus beginning to craft policy outlines, and investigating the prerequisites to get this idea off the ground.

If you want to help out in the planning stages, join our Google and Facebook groups or email me for more information.

Finally, our next meeting is scheduled for 6:00 PM on September 21st at the Railway Club, again before the next downtown Skeptics in the Pub.

First preliminary meeting – Aug 17

The time has come to get this ball rolling.

We’re planning to hold our first preliminary meeting on Tuesday, August 17 at the Railway Club in downtown Vancouver (on Dunsmuir and Seymour, above the 7/11) at 6:00 PM.

This is right before the monthly Skeptics in the Pub that also occurs there, so stick around for that if you’re interested in meeting other freethinkers and skeptics (this edition may be a joint meeting with Vancouver Cafe Scientifique).

On the (informal) agenda:

• What’s wrong? Political challenges for secularism
• How to fix it? The need for an advocacy group or political party
• Who’s going to do it? Establish roles and delegate tasks
• What will we stand for?

Nothing has really been decided yet, but I think we can establish a direction at this meeting and see where people want to go (civic, provincial, federal) and in what form to go (political party, think-tank/lobby group, etc) or a combination of the above (civic party and federal lobby group).

Please invite anyone else who you think might be interested in contributing.

I hope to see you all there!

Vancouver missing out on millions in revenue

I found an older, but great resource which in 1994 calculated the lost property taxation revenue for municipalities in the lower mainland. By exempting churches from property taxes, the 12 municipalities around Vancouver lost out on over $6.2 million per year in revenue, with nearly half of that coming from Vancouver city.

After 16 years of rapid growth, Vancouver is obviously out on a significant source of revenue that could be used to offset residential or commercial tax increases, or to sustain our financially strapped school system.

At the very least, the threat of taxation can be used to push less socially-minded congregations into giving something back to the community.

Announcing the Vancouver Secular Party project

Welcome to the blog for the Vancouver Secular Party.

We are not currently a registered electoral organization, but are a group of secular-minded individuals in the lower mainland who want to have our issues heard. This group may in the future seek to register itself so we can run candidates for the 2011 Vancouver municipal election.

A part of this discussion is inspired by a post by Ian Bushfield. And discussions are also occurring on Facebook.

We will likely be holding our inaugural meeting in the next month and until then are looking for interested individuals (even those who are not residents of Vancouver). To make this project a success we will need lots of volunteers, money and supporters.

Stay tuned for more updates, or email Ian for more information on how to help out.