Podcast Election Special #1 - Connecting Literacy and Civic Engagement

With the upcoming election on October 21st, our theme for the next few podcast episodes will be about literacy and civic engagement. We will feature special guests who will talk to us about the importance of participating in the election, why you should vote, and what some of the barriers and opportunities there are to civic engagement.

Did you know that  the voter turnout in the last federal election in 2015 was 68.3%?
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On this week’s episode, the first of our election special we speak with the Honourable David Lametti, who is the Member of Parliament for LaSalle—Émard—Verdun, the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of Canada. We learn about his role and the perspective of civic engagement from a candidate’s perspective

We also talk with Melanie Valcin from Frontier College about the connections between literacy and civic engagement and the national Forum on Literacy and Civic Engagement that is taking place on September 17th across Canada and online.

Are you registered to vote? How can you check? As part of our election series, we will be talking about voting basics. We chat about how to register or check if you are registered to vote.

• To register or to check to see if you are registered on the National Register of Electors to vote,  you can use the Online Voter Registration service or call        1-800-463-6868 or in person at any Elections Canada office until October 15
• ​You can also register when you go to vote on the 21st of October at your polling station, or during the advance polling days on October 11, 12, 13, 14
• ​If you are already registered but need to update your information after a move or name change, you can visit or call the above link and number.

When we vote we have the opportunity to vote for issues and representatives who will talk about our needs in the government when laws and policies are being made!

Links Mentioned in the Episode

• Honourable David Lametti's biography on the Department of Justice website https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/abt-apd/min.html
• Frontier College's Discussion paper on Literacy and Civic Engagement https://tinyurl.com/y3gfpbdz 
• Register for the Forum on Literacy and Civic Engagement September 17th https://tinyurl.com/yxom8h2s
• To check if you are registered to vote go to the Online Voter Registration  https://ereg.elections.ca/CWelcome.aspx?lang=e
• To learn more about the election https://www.elections.ca/ and ABC's guide to Civic Literacy https://abclifeliteracy.ca/civic-literacy
• Learn about how the government works https://lop.parl.ca/about/parliament/guidetohoc/index-e.htm

Upcoming Events

• The Learning Exchange (TLE) - Starting October 2019 and running through to January 2020, The Learning Exchange will be sponsoring ABC Life Literacy’s Up Skills for Work Series to adult learners
• TLE’s 1000 Books Before Kindergarten reading program will run from Oct. 2018 to Oct. 2019 to support families in the development of language and literacy skills in their young children. Watch for fun and interesting events throughout the year
• Western Quebec Literacy Council - E-parent workshops on Digital Literacy Oct 22 and Nov 5 https://www.facebook.com/events/395500908015049/
• Chateauguay Valley Literacy Council (CVLC) - English Language Workshops Oct 8th https://cvlc-chateauguay.weebly.com/community-events.html
• Quebec City Reading Council (QCRC) -  Fall Fest and Travellin' Toddler Time Sept 21 and Oct 18 http://www.qcrc.org/events.html
• LQ and RECLAIM at Fetes des Cartier de Verdun Sept 28th https://www.facebook.com/events/701443053597709/
• LQ at the 2020 Scotiabank Charity Race (April 25-26 2020)

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Every two weeks our hosts Chris Shee and Jaimie Cudmore from Literacy Quebec explore topics around community building, lifelong learning and literacy for English-speakers in Quebec. Want to help out with the podcast? Have a story you want to share? Contact us at [email protected] or call our office (514) 508-6805 or  Toll-Free: 1-855-890-1587