Virtual Town Hall a huge success!
October 21, 2010 at 12:53 AM
Winnipeg's first ever “virtual town hall” held on Thursday, October 21 was deemed a huge success!
The Winnipeg Citizens' Coalition, Water Watch, the Council of Canadians and CUPE set up the town hall to discuss the multi-year contract with Veolia that the Mayor and Council voted to enter into this past May. About 1000,000 people in Winnipeg received a call inviting them to participate in the event.
A total of 24,063 or 74% of people chose to stay on the line for a portion of the hour long call and 32,515 voicemails were left with a message about the deal. As well, 320 people “raised their hand” to ask a question and 49 people chose to leave a voice mail after the call.
"We are very pleased with the results of this first time ever initiative," said Mike Davidson, President of Local 500. "It's very clear that the secrecy of this deal is a major issue for the taxpayers of Winnipeg."
Local 500 has been calling for the City to disclose the full implication of the Veolia contract and has been campaigning steadily to keep the City's water and sewage treatment systems publicly owned, managed and operated since the City first proposed the creation of a municipal corporate utility model in November, 2008.
To listen to the virtual town hall recording, please click here.
