Open Victoria Town Hall Meeting about Sewage Treatment

On Wednesday Open Victoria will be hosting their first Town Hall on an issue this coming Wednesday on Sewage Treatment.

The meeting will be on Wednesday November 21st at 7pm at Oak Bay High School

From their website:
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Town Hall Dialogue on the CRD Sewage Treatment Project
by DERRY on NOVEMBER 13, 2012 ·
Why the CRD Sewage Project requires a Town Hall 

 The Greater Victoria Capital Regional District is about to start issuing tenders to build a $783 million secondary sewage treatment system. But is the present CRD plan the best option for secondary treatment? Is secondary sewage treatment even necessary in Victoria? Most important–has enough public information and scientific evidence been provided to warrant going ahead immediately without further discussion?

OpenVictoria, a non-partisan citizen’s organization committed to advancing greater citizen participation, transparency and accountability in the municipal decision-making process, believes sufficient public concern is now being expressed throughout the CRD to warrant further engagement and discussion about this project before the shovels come out.

To that end Open Victoria urges everyone to come to a Town Hall Dialogue Nov. 21 at 7pm at the Oak Bay High School Auditorium.

Participatory Town Hall Format

We emphasize the word “dialogue.” The format will be a community discussion, rather than a debate or a one-sided public relations event. The sole purpose of the evening is to provide the public an opportunity to understand and make sense of the opposing perspectives on the sewage treatment project.

Open Victoria believes this would be best achieved through a participatory dialogue, rather than the observation of a heated and argumentative debate. Towards that end we have encouraged presenters to focus as much as possible on the underlying assumptions and thinking behind their position rather than solely providing a deluge of facts in support of it. Similarly, the moderator will encourage audience members to inquire about how presenters arrived at their positions, the assumptions they’re based on and why they think the way they do about the project.

Invited Panel Members
Members of the CRD Board, each accompanied by scientific and/or technical experts (e.g. scientist, engineer, public health official) will provide their perspective (for or against) on the project, followed by a moderated Q&A session based on questions from the audience. Questions from the audience will be submitted in writing and presented to the moderator. Blank cards will be distributed to audience members on arrival and on request during the meeting.

For the existing CRD Sewage PlanCRD Director, Victoria Ben IsittUniversity of Victoria professor Edward IshiguroGerald Graham, President, World Ocean Consulting

For revisiting the Existing CRD Sewage PlanCRD Director, Saanich Vic DermanCRD Director, View Royal, Graham HillChief Medical Health Officer VIHA, Richard Stanwick

Additional participants may be added, we will update the list accordingly.
CFAX 1070′s Murray Langdon will be moderator.