MakeOurMarknl

SPEAKING NOTES
HON. DIANNE WHALEN
MINISTER OF MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS
MAKEYOURMARKNL.CA Launch

Good afternoon.

Ladies and gentlemen, invited guests, campaign partners.

I am pleased to be here this afternoon to introduce an innovative campaign to encourage involvement in municipal council. Municipalities require strong leadership, and people who have a vision for the future.

Today is an exciting day. Today, I am pleased to announce the launch of MAKEYOURMARKNL.

MAKEYOURMARKNL will promote the opportunity for individuals to consider how their voice can be an important one through involvement in municipal council.

Councils across the province are looking for people who can introduce new ideas and work to promote, secure and improve communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

While we acknowledge the great contribution many of our current municipal elected officials have made and will continue to make, our government recognizes that without attracting new candidates or rekindling an individual’s desire to run , Newfoundland and Labrador faces a great loss of experience within our communities and could possibly place the long-term sustainability of our municipalities at risk.

We must reshape the perceptions of the role of municipal government and solicit new involvement from individuals to run or nominate someone they know.

The question you may ask is HOW…

To effectively deliver the message, we felt a new and innovative campaign was needed. The campaign will include two phases. Initially it will aim to inspire individuals to run for election or encourage someone they know to consider placing their name on a ballot in the community they live. The second phase of the campaign will inform voters of the importance of voting in the election slated for September 29.

Today – the MAKEYOURMARKNL will go live. The website will contain everything you need to know about running in municipal elections and the roles and responsibilities surrounding local governance.

As well, there will be the availability online to refer a friend. Sometimes all people need is a little nudge; this function of the website can help those individuals.

Our site will host a contest asking Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to submit a 30 second video depicting how they would make their mark on their community. The possibilities are endless. We will offer a prize to the best submission. The winner will win a computer for a school in their community, donated in their name. Similarly, the winner will get one too.

Municipal politics is all about capacity building and strengthening a community, we feel that our contest should do the same.

In addition, to the website posters and promotional items you see here today are all part of this strategy.
As you will see, we have utilized social media marketing like Facebook and YouTube to attract a wider audience.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, approximately 75% of our population have either signed up for Facebook or view it on a regular basis. What better way to specifically target interested groups than through this attractive website.

YouTube and online videos will make the campaign more personal. The face of the campaign will be you, me and people we know. Each video that is submitted will be uploaded for viewing on the site. To date, both Mayor Curtis Buckle of Holyrood and I have completed videos, and it is my pleasure to present them here today.

The brightest ideas for making a community better come from people within the community itself. By using YouTube and the web, we can make all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians the faces that affect positive change.

Later this afternoon, a member of our team will be soliciting your views for the website. I encourage you to be the first people to join our campaign and tell everyone throughout our great province how you would make your mark on your community. It only takes a minute, but your opinion will go a long way toward promoting inclusion and interest in this campaign. We all have a voice, and we need to capture that voice for the collective good of our province.

I want to take this opportunity to thank our partners: Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador, the Professional Municipal Administrators, the Newfoundland and Labrador Women’s Policy Office, the Voluntary and Non-Profit Secretariat and Futures in Newfoundland and Labrador for Youth. Each organization has played a significant role in the development of this campaign and will be strong supporters of it throughout the summer. We are extremely pleased to work in cooperation with them.

Finally, I invite members of the media and other guests to join us for a small reception and browse our new website, view the posters, and talk to our partners about the importance of our individual roles with this campaign.

We have a monumental task ahead of us, and it is through cooperation and collaboration that we will be successful. Our province depends on it.

We are confident this campaign will spread the message that your community needs you to shape tomorrow. Getting involved, whether by running or simply voting, provides an opportunity to make things better today for future generations to come.

My own experience has showed me that there is nothing more satisfying than knowing your contribution has affected so many people.

Thank you for coming, and keep posted to our website to see some of the fantastic submissions and testimonials we will gather between now and September.

Our province has so much to offer, our people have more. Municipal councilors can see the future, and there is no question that tomorrow’s potential starts with today’s leaders.

Thank you.