Cutting Through Elections Noise, Friday 21 February 2025 at SDCWR

What: SDC Pre-Election Event To Focus On Community Power
When: 7:00pm to 9:00pm on Friday 21 February 2025
Where: Social Development Centre Waterloo Region (enter from Duke Street)
Location: 23 Water Street North, Kitchener, Ontario Map
Online: https://waterlooregion.org/sdc-pre-election-event-to-focus-on-community-power
Register: on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/cutting-through-elections-noise-a-forum-for-building-community-power-tickets-1248691492869
Contact: Phone: +1‑519‑579‑3800, E-mail: sdcwr@waterlooregion.org

The last-minute announcement of a provincial election has left many of us reeling. And there’s a growing sense that our governments and political processes don’t work for us.

But what if we can turn our collective anxiety into something productive? That is our hope with “Cutting Through the Noise: A Forum for Building Community Power.” Happening Friday 21 February 2025 from 7:00pm to 9:00pm, the event will create a space for us all to catch our breath, acknowledge our worries, and practise building local collective power in the face of systems that fail us.

Only together can we create the futures we want. Grassroots organizers, community groups, and residents from across Waterloo Region are welcome. Please RSVP today and share widely.

Things are not okay, and we can all feel it.

Mass layoffs seem imminent in the face of a looming tariff war. Housing costs are eating up an ever-increasing share of our incomes. Our schools are under-funded. Our hospitals are inundated. And homeless encampments have become entrenched, as more people are pushed into poverty. All of this against a backdrop of dizzying political announcements – new legislation, new funding, new election timelines – and yet, no improvement in the realities we see around us.

But history has shown us that social change is possible.

The rejection of encampment evictions at 100 Victoria St. in Kitchener. The overturning of land swaps at the heart of Ontario’s Greenbelt scandal. The change in a 13-year stance when Canada condemned Israeli settlements in occupied-Palestine. Time and again, we’ve seen deep-seated political forces fall apart in the face of sustained community action.

Let’s turn our collective anxiety into something productive.

Join us on Feb. 21 and together, we can combat the feeling that we’re on our own. We can listen and care for one another, even as our systems fail us. And in the midst of so much noise, we can practise building local, collective power to create the future we want.

Some Resources Your May Find Helpful in The Lead Up to Election Day

With the provincial election announced a mere 28 days before Election Day, we understand many voters don’t feel like they have enough time to get to know their candidates or the platforms of their respective parties. Here are some of the resources we’ve come across that you might find helpful:

1. A primer of questions about decent work and cost of living (Justice for Workers)
2. Candidate responses to questions compiled locally by One Millions Neighbours Waterloo Region
3. Resources for voters who care about Good Food for All (Sustain Ontario)
4. Search for your candidate’s campaign page (Elections Ontario)
5. Promises made by each of the 4 parties (Global News)
6. How to cast your vote on or before Election Day (Elections Ontario)