St. James United Church, Antigonish, Nova Scotia

Are you concerned about poverty in Antigonish?

The Social Justice Committee invites you to participate in an important initiative to address poverty in our community. We strongly encourage you to utilize the paragraphs below (completed with your information and/or preferences), or words of your own choosing to email any or all of the attached list of people (current as of May 2011) who have influence over the policies that effect poverty reduction. We are assured that the quantity of mail received is the most influential factor in these campaigns. This type of email campaign has proven to be highly effective in motivating politicians to move on drafting legislation for positive change locally, provincially and federally. If you have any questions about these issues or this campaign, please don’t hesitate to speak with one of the members of the Committee (Sarah Aavmat, Michèle Ashby, Anne Camozzi, Barbara deMarsh, Sarita Ghore, Hope Graham, Judith Jowett, Muriel Kennedy, Mike MacDonald, Gina Sampson, Pat Skinner, Reverend Peter Smith or Fran Wittgens). Thank you for your participation!

Dear Addressee’s name –

I write as a concerned citizen of Antigonish and member of St James' United Church. I am struggling with issues of social justice here in our community, specifically poverty and its effects on families. I strongly believe that the lives of everyone in our community are improved when issues of poverty are addressed.

As a citizen of a small, largely rural community I am concerned that government places too much focus on urban issues. In particular I have concerns about local housing, hunger and transportation. Specific to Antigonish, as a university town, we suffer from a lack of affordable housing due to the tendency to artificially inflate rents for students. Will more affordable housing units be created in our town and county? Also there are no longer grocery stores in the downtown core of our community. This has left many people who do not have the mobility, or means to pay for transportation, unable to purchase the cheaper groceries available at the larger "box" grocery stores located on the outskirts of Antigonish. What will be done to subsidize transportation for people living “below the poverty line”? What policies is government pursuing to effectively reduce poverty to improve their quality of life?

I appreciate your attention to my comments and request a reply at your convenience.

sincerely,

Your name

List of Possible Contacts:

Municipal politicians:

Mayor Carl Chisholm                                                                      863-2351
Town of Antigonish
274 Main St
Antigonish, NS                                             mayor@townofantigonish.ca
B2G 2C4

Warden Herb Delorey                                                                     863-1117
Municipality of the County of Antigonish
285 Beech Hill Rd, RR 6
Antigonish, NS                                             hjdelorey@antigonishcounty.ns.ca
B2G 0B4

Provincial politicians:

Premier Darrell Dexter:
Office of the Premier
PO Box 726
Halifax, NS                                                    premier@gov.ns.ca
B3J 2T3

Honourable Denise Peterson-Rafuse, Minister for Community Services:
Department of Community Services
Nelson Place, 5675 Spring Garden Road
Halifax, NS                                                    petersdj@gov.ns.ca
B3J 2T7

Moe Smith, MLA Antigonish                                                          863-0444
275 Main Street, Suite 102
Antigonish, NS                                             mauricesmithmla@bellaliant.com
B2G 2C3

Stephen McNeil
Leader of the Official Opposition
Nova Scotia Liberal Caucus Office
P.O. Box 741.
Halifax, NS                                                    stephenmcneil@ns.aliantzinc.ca
B3J 2T3

Geoff MacLellan
Liberal Critic for Community Services
Nova Scotia Liberal Caucus Office
P.O. Box 741.
Halifax, NS
B3J 2T3

Jamie Baillie
Leader, Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia
PC Caucus Office
Centennial Building, 8th Floor
Suite 805 - 1645 Granville St.
Halifax, NS
B3J 1X3

Honourable Chris D'Entremont,
PC Critic for Community Services
PC Caucus Office
Centennial Building, 8th Floor
Suite 805 - 1645 Granville St.
Halifax, NS                                                    info@chrisdentremont.com
B3J 1X3

Federal politicians:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper                 HarpeS@parl.gc.ca

Thomas Mulcair
Leader of the Opposition                            thomas.mulcair@parl.gc.ca

Bob Rae
Leader of the Liberal Party                         bob.rae@parl.gc.ca

Nova Scotia MPs:

Honourable Peter MacKay
Suite 303Kirk Place,
219 Main Street
Antigonish, NS
B2G 2C1                                                        MacKay.P@parl.gc.ca

Geoff Regan, Liberal Party                        Regan.G@parl.gc.ca

Peter Stoffer, NDP                                       Stoffer.P@parl.gc.ca

Megan Leslie, NDP                                                 Leslie.M@parl.gc.ca