And here is the question of the day: Could a stronger Canadian consumer advocacy movement help to move things forward for our community? For so many years we as a community have been mired in the same old song; that being we continue to complain about and criticize those agencies who we feel have done us wrong.
We continue to complain that these agencies do not respect our opinions and above all that they do not respect us as individuals. We continue to criticize them mercilessly and we continue to beat up each other. We continue to fight for respect from the outside world but alas! These strategies have not really helped us when it comes to us moving forward as a community.
This formula has not worked and will not work for as long as we fail to realize that it needs to be changed. For starters, if we have any hope of being respected by others then we need to start by showing respect for each other.
If we continue to be the naysayers then no one is going to take us seriously. If we continue to be our worst enemy instead of being the solution makers then I am afraid that we are not going to see any progress.
I know that there are many who are simply tired of the fighting amongst ourselves and this is why they choose to withhold their expertise and assistance because they are afraid of being criticized. I also know that many of us would love to step forward but we do not know how to do so.
There is a gaping hole that needs to be filled in Canada and this could be rectified by the building of a strong Canadian consumer advocacy movement. Right now we do not have any such entity.
We are a very much fractured community with little or no direction at the present time. We need to change this and before I am accused of complaining and criticizing myself; I’d like to put forward a simple suggestion.
On Oct 29 I along with others will be hosting a tele town hall meeting. A coast to coast session where our community will have a chance to voice their opinions and suggestions as to how we can start to build something strong and solid.
The title of this town hall will be “let’s get it out there.” This town hall will be carried out via phone and is a non partisan initiative.
Participants will be encouraged to voice their opinions in an open and constructive manner and it is hoped that feedback from this will be used to encourage our community to motivate organizations with which they are affiliated and associated to find ways to collaborate, cooperate, and communicate more affectively.
I believe that this could be a start to igniting the beginnings of some sort of Canadian consumer advocacy movement.
Just my two cents for today.