OPT # 8 - The Plan, The Players, Your Part...

On October 17, 2008, the provincial government announced a public engagement initiative called Bringing The Pieces Together, which gave New Brunswickers the opportunity to become involved in reducing and preventing poverty.Since poverty has a direct or indirect impact on everyone, it was decided that everyone should be included in finding solutions to the economic and social problems related to poverty.
The public dialogue phase was conducted between January 1 and April 30, 2009.Nearly 2,500 people participated. All the input received was published in the What Was Said report entitled A Choir of Voices, which supported Phase Two of the process- the round table sessions.
The round table sessions were conducted between June 2 and September 30, 2009.About 30 participants from all sectors met to develop options for a poverty reduction plan based on the findings in  A Choir of Voices. These participants were all chosen for their experience and expertise.The final forum was chaired by the premier and brought together 47 New Brunswick leaders from the four sectors to adopt a poverty reduction plan.It was held on November 12 and 13, 2009, and resulted in the development of Overcoming Poverty Together: The New Brunswick Economic and Social Inclusion Plan.


4 Key areas

1. Policies: from assistance to investment

2. Programs: from structure to innovation

3. Service delivery: from a centralized approach to a community-based approach

4. Shared responsibility: from disengagement to commitment

I will go through the plan action item by action item and let you know what has happened,  what is happening and what will happen.

We all have a part to play to make New Brunswick a better place to live for ALL of us.

OPT#7 -Bathurst City Council, Community Meetings and "Je Suis Une Rocker...

What a great few days - Monday night we presented the Overcoming Poverty Together Plan to Bathurst City Council - it was fun and we got to be on TV - so that was also cool.

We headed out to Caraquet in a snow strorm, rolled into the Super 8 around 9:30pm, and went to work on our PowerPoint for the next morning - called it a night around 11.



Stéphane, our fearless Leader



 Tuesday started early as we had to be in Shippagan by 7, so we had to leave by 6:30, so we had to eat at 6, so had to get up at 5:30 - besides all that we had a great meeting with the business sector and the municipalities, not to mention another great Breakfast, thanks to UdeM - Shippagan Campus.



There is alot of inclusion, innovation
(and Snow) in the Acadian Peninsula



We finished the meeting and then started to work on the PowerPoint for Tuesday Night - it was geared for Non Profit Organizations and Citizens, so our presentation needed some tweeking. we left just in time to get to the Radio Station CKRO , we had to stop on the way and snap a shot of this gentleman who was using his electric wheelchair as plow by attaching a shovel to the arm - there is a ton of snow up north. Stéphane and Christine did a great job on the interview.

CKRO - In Studio - Big Shout out to Poverty Reduction



As we left the Radio Station I mentionned that Chu un rocker by Offenbach was one of my Dad's favorite songs, the DJ played it for us as we rocked our way back to Caraquet.





We headed to the Restaurant Orientale, they have a very good buffet - then onto MACS office to work on an progress update on the OPT plan for the website - we got it mostly done, then met with Léo-Paul at the Centre Benevolant - then a quick bite at la Caraquette - and off to our meeting in Inkerman - the meeting was well attended 30 interested people, many familar faces from the morning presentation - which goes a long way in showing the committment and engagement of this region in coming together to combat poverty.



It was a long and awesome day - but many more people are engaged in making New Brunswick a better place by including everybody in it's development and prosperity.

"When we exclude someone's perspective, we lose an opportunity to gain knowledge." - Dr. Andre M. Perry







OPT#6 - Art Eggleton, Vibrant Communities and The Power of Youth...

Great meeting in Saint John last night, Art Eggleton said that we can't afford poverty, Minister Stultz talked about how New Brunswick will be Overcoming Poverty Together, while Wendy McDermott and Liz Weaver talked about how Saint John is becoming a Vibrant Community.



"If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else." - Booker T. Washington


Today is the NB Youth Summit - stay tuned the youth of NB are getting engaged - I expect big things.



OPT #5 - Networking, Commonalities and Partnerships...

It's been a week since I last posted anything, we had another snowstorm, and bunch of meetings and yesterday was Valentine's day, which is always exciting when you have a 4 (almost 5) year old.


Today has been particularily exciting - I spoke to the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce as I'm working hard to share the   plan -

I thought that this would be a great organisation to network the plan to their members. I was right, Susan had some great ideas, four connections and was super nice about the whole thing - I told her this and she said "I'm glad, that what we are here for."


I also spoke to the Workplace Essiential Skills team, The PETL Employment Services team and the Fredericton regional Social Development office. The plan is a year old, but was developped by more than 2500 New Brunswickers, and has a clear vision of the things that will make New Brunswick a better place not only for the 100,000 people living in poverty, but everyone.


The rest of this week is also crazy (have you ever been so busy that Tuesday feels like Friday?) with a training session through LearnSphere in Moncton on Thursday followed up by an evening with Art Eggleton hosted by Vibrant Communties in Saint John - he's speaking on the national poverty reduction plan - New Brunswick is ahead of the curve...


This weekend is the Youth Summit with 1NB - should be some interesting stuff "From Youth, For Youth"

We are partnering with Renaissance College, who are almost 10 years old,  to put on a breakfast session through the Chamber for early March. Should be awesome. Updates on Friday...

"Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal. " - JFK

OPT#4 - Vibrant Communities, Youth Strategies and Echelon Plowing the TCH...

I’ve had quite a week, and it’s only Wednesday Morning (Sorry about no post last night, but it was 6pm by the time I got home from Moncton.

Monday started with a trip to Saint John to meet with Vibrant Communities, beautiful day, not too cold, got a great Hyundai Sonata from Avis and I was off. Got down to the St. Joe’s Community Health Center, picked up Wendy and then over town to get Juanita in Crescent Valley then we were off to UNBSJ – lots of things happening there, but no places to park. We had a great meeting, everyone is so engaged it’s so encouraging.  Then back to drop everyone off (Wendy gave me a gift for all the other CINs) and back onto the Highway.

I rolled back into Freddy at 4:30, met up with Debbie from United Way of GMSENB and we discussed the next steps in the process for Region #1 – they are well on their way and are looking at the foundational pieces of the plan.

Tuesday was a Snowstorm, they were calling for 2-5 cms, and he ended up with 25, it took us 2.5 hours as we got caught behind an Echelon Snow Plough, which was good, because right behind the plough, the road is always clear.

We got to Moncton safe and sound, but a little late for our meeting, we met with 1NB, who is working on a Youth Strategy for NB, the meeting was productive and the Youth Summit is shaping up nicely for the weekend of Feb 18-20.

The drive home was faster, but the snowblowing that awaiting me there was no fun at all...

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather."  -John Ruskin

OPT #3 - Snowstorms, Community Literacy and Kent County...

What a great week, Wednesday was a crazy fast moving snowstorm that hit us here in the Maritimes – but lots of work got done as I wasn’t on the road. This winter is crazy, we have a storm every week, Moncton received 220 cms of snow in January, so much for a place to put it, or the snow removal budget for that matter.

Thursday was a different story; cold, bright and sunny. I met with the very passionate group that works with the regional Community Adult Learning Network – I presented Overcoming Poverty Together, they had lots of questions, and seemed to really see themselves in the plan/process- which is always nice.

Then it was a conference call on the way down to the office to pick up a co-worker and for the cross province journey to Richibucto. The roads weren’t great but the crews were out and the scenery was amazing. We arrived in time to grab a quick bite and make it to the meeting at 1pm. We had a presentation from Workplace Essential Skills and they we were up – there was great dialogue and some innovative ideas around how to leverage funds and build complimentary programs – we left around 4 – and were home after 6:30. But it was a great day

It was cold this morning, but beautiful – Next week is a big one, Saint John, Moncton, SA Reform Meeting and a Brainstorming session. Looking forward to it, have a great weekend…

"Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one's potential." - Bruce Lee

OPT #2 - Agreements, UNB Classes and Hope...

On this voyage toward Poverty Reduction there are many stops, some are exciting, others not so much, but they are all necessary - We are working on the Agreement that will be signed between the Community Inclusion Networks and the Economic and Social Inclusion Corporation - it's very detailed stuff, which isn't my forte, but it is necessary to get the agreement together so that it can be signed and the Networks can get some financial support to set up their networks.

Last night I had the pleasure of spending some time with Melissa Sheridan Embser-Herbert's Inequality and Social Justice class - I presented the Overcoming Poverty Together Plan , we had an inspired question and answer session and now they are going to each tackle a component of the plan - dig down, figure out what it means to them, and what it could mean to our province.

My message to the class was that the OPT plan is not mine, but it is ours - so figure out how and where you fit into the Puzzle,and put your piece in - afterall the Puzzle is our collective future and we need all the pieces if we want it to be something we can all be proud of.

Next up is a meeting with PETL to figure out where their piece fits, then it's off to Kent County to meet with Education Kent the CIN from Region 11 - they are going to start building their Regional Plan - very exciting. In between now and then they are also calling for a Weather System with Significant Snowfall - so that's fun as well. Here is some Bruce - I heard it last summer in person and was very moving and the message is a good one as we work towards 2015.

Have a great day...

“We are already one. But we imagine that we are not. And what we have to recover is our original unity. What we have to be is what we are.” - Thomas Merton