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mike wrote a new post, Open response to Teachers' Association Questions, on...

The Richmond Teachers’ Association sent a questionnaire. There were 7 questions. Unparty answered just the first one: 1. What do you consider to be the most important issues facing public education...

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mike wrote a new post, RCD All Candidates Meeting , on the site unparty...

Last night was an all candidates meeting hosted by the Richmond Centre for Disability. It was a fairly predictable: opening speeches and Q&As. Sixty second answers. Just enough time for sound...

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mike wrote a new post, CAPBA hosted meeting, on the site unparty unsecrets

Today, all candidates’ meeting at CAPBA. Mike attended. Chanel didn’t. Mike stressed that we need to bring people together in order to have a creative prosperous society. Youth needs to be involved....

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mike commented on the post, Can Consensus Work?, on the site why consensus?

Thanks for your reply. Yes, there has to be an alternative. I think we agree too on the matter of “genuine leadership”. I can imagine some day when we have established these assemblies that we’re...

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mike wrote a new post, Democracy is a hollow, on the site unparty: the...

Ahh, isn’t democracy great? Tonight was the all candidates meeting in Richmond hosted by the Teachers’ Association. Let me set the scene. Somewhere around 10 political candidates: Green, Conservative,...

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mike wrote a new post, They're watching, on the site unparty unsecrets

Received some DVDs from Elections BC that contains all the registered voters in Richmond-Centre and Richmond-Steveston with addresses. Each person has a unique number (or pair of numbers actually), and...

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mike wrote a new post, Open reply to Richmond Arts, on the site unparty: the...

Received an email from the Richmond Arts Coalition. The reply is here. Their email is below. Hello. Actually, Unparty does not take positions on issues per se, but we want a better way for us all to...

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mike wrote a new post, Reply to Richmond Christian Elementary School, on the...

For the Student Vote 2013, I received an email from Hiu with questions. They are here with my answers. Questions for our Richmond-Steveston candidates: 1. Why are you running to be elected? I am...

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mike wrote a new post, Message to Students, on the site unparty: the...

As part of the Student Vote 2013 initiative, this is the Unparty submission.

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mike wrote a new post, , on the site unparty unsecrets

Last night was the all candidates’ meeting at Kwantlen. For the three minute opening remarks, the other candidates started off with the usual. I was born and raised here, I volunteer at such-and-such a...

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mike wrote a new post, Candidates Meeting Kwantlen Uni, on the site unparty:...

Last night was the all candidates’ meeting at Kwantlen. For the three minute opening remarks, the other candidates started off with the usual. I was born and raised here, I volunteer at such-and-such a...

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mike wrote a new post, 100m rule on signage, on the site unparty unsecrets

From the DEO (District Electoral Office) in Richmond-Steveston: A colleague of our (DEO in Vancouver) asked the following question to our colleagues at Elections BC: · The Election Act […]

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mike commented on the post, What is unparty?, on the site unparty: the...

Thanks for the encouraging words. I figure if we are going to end adversarial politics, where better than at the grassroots?! Also, I accept that professional facilitators would be needed at these...

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mike wrote a new post, Sign waving, on the site unparty unsecrets

Been standing on the street with a homemade sign, Vote Unparty. Pretty good reception. Lots of people honking and waving. A few disgruntled folks. But not too many.

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mike commented on the post, Unparty in Richmond, on the site unparty: the...

Thanks for the kind feedback. Which riding are you in?

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mike wrote a new post, The Beginning, on the site unparty: the...

Well there you have it, election 2013 is done. We, Chanel and Mike, would like to give a big thanks to the couple hundred supporters who voted for Unparty. And thanks to the encouragement from people...

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mike wrote a new post, Facebook Site, on the site unparty: the...

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Unparty-the-consensus-building-party/571808539517674?ref=hl

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mike wrote a new post, , on the site unparty: the consensus-building party

Unparty is registered with Elections BC and ran two candidates in the 2013 BC election. The whole point of Unparty is to figure out more participatory methods of democracy and advocate them.

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mike wrote a new post, NDP and Libs to receive $40,000. Most other parties,...

Elections BC owes the Liberals and NDP over 20 grand each and the Greens $2250. A few independent candidates from this past election and one Conservative candidate will receive cheques of $250 while...

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mike wrote a new post, Could unconferences improve our democracy?, on the...

I went to an unconference (Polyglot 2013) the weekend before last and had some thoughts on how the unconference format could be used in the creation of public policy or law. I think many would agree...

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mike started the forum topic Forcing Lobbying to Change in the group Open Group

If elected MLAs were bound to the decisions of the people at their local level, then lobbyists would have to actually be democratic. Instead of meeting in secret with senior members of the government,...

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mike started the forum topic How the Discussion Forum Works in the group Open...

Members of this site can create and join groups. Each group will have its own discussion forum. To start things off there is one group, Open Group. So to get going, you’ll need to first create an...

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mike started the forum topic Innovation at the Grassroots in the group Open...

Each district could have one or more facilitators for group participation. Methods of participation (deliberative democracy) could be anything from town hall meetings, to consensus conferences or...

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mike replied to the forum topic Local Representation in the group Open Group

If all MLAs are tied to the decisions at their local level, then they wouldn’t just vote in party blocks for the policies that the Premier/Cabinet pre-decided. They would have to actually bring those...

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mike wrote a new post, Deliberation please, on the site unparty: the...

Some possible instruments that a deliberative democracy could use: unconferences, open space meeting, deliberative opinion polls, consensus conferences and many others.

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mike commented on the post, Crowdsourcing Change, on the site unparty: the...

I like your ideas. There is so much more potential for using technology. The common counter-argument is that this benefits the people who are tech-savvy and have a ‘net connection. But this is getting...

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mike wrote a new post, unconferences etc, on the site unparty unsecrets

Had a couple interesting email exchanges with Bill from UnConference.net. I’ll have to figure out how to attach email files to this blog, but for now I’ll say that he had some good reference […]

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mike commented on the post, Crowdsourcing Change, on the site unparty: the...

- I made some changes. I guess “principles” might be the wrong term. Rules of thumb? - I like the idea of an unposition. - I think I need to give some more meat to the notion of consensus, give...

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mike wrote a new post, Why unparty?, on the site unparty: the...

Unparty is something like a political party, and something not. Unparty is being built from scratch right now in complete openness. Unparty is founded on the consensus decision-making value system....

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mike commented on the post, Open reply to BC Humanists, on the site unparty:...

Hey. Is that your real name, or do you just love Vonnegut? Thanks for checking in.

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mike wrote a new post, CBC and social media, on the site unparty unsecrets

Last night, got an email from the CBC. If I want my 2 minutes of air time, I need to go on Monday to tape. Aiy, short notice to write a speech. Day before, Chanel and I met Maggie, 22 yr. old, who...

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mike wrote a new post, Penguins, ducks and beer... and what the voter wants,...

Just received an email from a MAJOR media outlet. “Hello…As part of our election coverage … voters will get to learn a little bit more about the quirky or non-conventional side of you. It’s something...

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mike wrote a new post, CBC script, on the site unparty unsecrets

Found out late on Thursday that I would tape the 2-minute spot at the CBC today. Chanel and I were busy writing the script on Saturday, and practicing the delivery on Sunday. So we didn’t have time to...

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mike wrote a new post, Content first, filter second, on the site unparty: the...

Some years ago publishers decided what books you could read, newspapers decided what information to give you, and music labels decided what music you could listen to. The “experts” in those industries...

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mike wrote a new post, Can Consensus Work?, on the site why consensus?

Unparty promotes deliberation at the local level towards some policy conclusions. Consensus would be the goal. But surely there are just so many divisive issues? Is consensus really possible? Well, yes...

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mike wrote a new post, Anonymous email from mining people, on the site...

We recently received an anonymous email from the mining industry asking us where we stand on various topics (Fiscal Policy, Energy, Environment, Transportation Infrastructure, First Nations, Skills and...

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mike wrote a new post, Urgent Petition for British Columbians who have no...

Since deciding to be candidates for this election, Chanel and I have received all kinds of emails from organizations asking where we stand on various issues. Some organizations are big and will...

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mike wrote a new post, The Common Good, on the site unparty: the...

Received an email from Leanna W. As a British Columbian and voter, I desire to make an informed decision regarding the best party to vote for in the coming election. I want to vote for a party that...

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mike wrote a new post, Email from Francophone Journalist, on the site unparty...

    Received an email from, Eva, a Francophone journalist. The reply is here. Dear Sir or Madam, My name is Eva Caldieri and I am a Francophone journalist for Les Nouvelles Communautaires, based in […]

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mike wrote a new post, Lawn Signs, on the site unparty unsecrets

Tara, in Vancouver, asked if we want to put lawn signs in front of her home. Unfortunately, we are running no candidates in Vancouver. Too bad! Next time. …Oh yeah, and we have no lawn signs.

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mike wrote a new post, Another logo idea, on the site unparty: the...

Here is another logo idea submitted by Chad. I think I’ll go with this one or something like it depending on how it looks with the darker blue of the banner.

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mike wrote a new post, Filming for Shaw, on the site unparty unsecrets

Today Chanel and Mike taped a short clip each for Shaw TV. It will air sometime on May 5 and May 7. The transcripts are below.   I’m Chanel Donovan, and I’m with… unparty. I immigrated from Shanghai as...

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mike wrote a new post, Whipped, on the site unparty: the consensus-building...

This film looks good. I find is curious that the film-makers call it the “secret world of party discipline in British Columbia”. I’ve heard complaints for years that this is how the system works. But […]

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mike wrote a new post, CJSF and Hush, on the site unparty unsecrets

Yesterday had an interview with David from CJSF Radio 90.1 FM, and Brian from Hush magazine. Will link to the radio/magazine pieces when they are out.

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mike wrote a new post, Government should not make decisions., on the site why...

There are two ways to run the show. Either: The people make decisions, or We elect the decision makers. The first is democracy. The second is what we have (polyarchy). If we believe that #1 is better...

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mike wrote a new post, facebook page, projections., on the site unparty...

Started a facebook page. Special thanks to Maggie for getting this up. Posted a video of our Richmond night-time projections at FB.      

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mike wrote a new post, Permanent Assembly Locations, on the site unparty: the...

Yesterday, I had a great phone conversation with Doris in Falkland, BC. She heard our CBC radio segment, and tracked us down. She had a good idea that each electoral district have one (or more than...

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mike wrote a new post, Still learning after all these years, on the site...

Sent this email to Gnome Publications and Patrides Greek newspaper.   Hello. My name is Mike Donovan. My wife and I recently started a new political party in BC called Unparty, and we are each on the...

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mike wrote a new post, The Converse Military Boots Advantage, on the site air...

The Converse Military Boots AdvantageConverse military boots belong to the most esteemed names in combat and military boots. They come in various styles and features, providing optimum feet protection...

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mike wrote a new post, Two Ideas For A Terrific Road Trip, on the site...

When you go on a road trip with your family, you get a chance to experience the world around you from a much different perspective. It makes the destination seem much more appealing, and gives you a...

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