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Young Activist To Moderate High Powered Panel

Brigette DePape will moderate a panel addressing federal policy issues
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Page Brigette DePape interrupted a Senate session in 2011 when she stood up during a Senate session holding a sign that read “Stop Harper”. She will be in Courtenay June 24 to moderate a panel addressing federal policy issues.

A young woman who captured the country’s attention after the 2011 federal election will be in the Comox Valley on June 24.

Brigette DePape will moderate the panel for the event titled “Time For A Change: Public forum on the state of our democracy” at the Florence Filberg Centre, Courtenay at 7 p.m.

DePape was the Senate page who put her job on the line after the Conservative majority victory in 2011 when she stood up during a Senate session holding a sign that read “Stop Harper”.

She felt she was expressing the sentiment of many in her generation who are both fed up with politics and concerned about the country’s policies. In the build-up to this federal election she is taking that concern across the country in a campaign to encourage young people to exercise their right to vote. She is one of a new set of faces in community activism across the country – young, non-partisan voters who are concerned and knowledgeable about a wide range of issues.

The panel she is moderating has a compelling line-up of speakers.  Maude Barlow is the national chair of the Council of Canadians; Jerry Dias is the national president of UNIFOR; and Judy Rebick is a nationally recognized journalist, activist and feminist. They will be addressing federal policy issues that affect our democratic process, the creation of good jobs, saving public health care and addressing climate change.

The Council of Canadians has teamed up with the Public Service Alliance of Canada, Unifor, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, and the Directors Guild of Canada to host a series of public forums across the country that have one message: Go Vote!

"This is a watershed election that could be a real fork in the road for Canadians," said Barlow. "After nine years of job losses, health care privatization, falling wages, environmental neglect, and austerity, it's time for change. But that will only happen if we get out and vote for it."

The public forum will be followed by a hands-on workshop on how to increase voter turnout in the Comox Valley.  It will take place on Thursday, June 25 at 7 p.m. at the Comox Community Centre, 1855 Noel Ave, Comox.

 

For more information contact Alice de Wolff, Comox Valley Council of Canadians  250-792-2967 or Leila Marshy The Council of Canadians 1-800-387-7177 ext. 232  lmarshy@canadians.org