Prince George—Peace River 2011

Candidate's Application
NAME/NOM: Jeremy Cote

PROVINCE: British Columbia

RIDING/CIRCONSCRIPTION: Prince George - Peace River

PARTY INVOLVEMENT / PARTICIPATION DE PARTI:

Member.

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE / L'EXPÉRIENCE POLITIQUE:

Involved with school and municipal governments, various committees, etc..

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST / CONFLITS D'INTÉRÊTS:

Member of the Board of Directors for the Fort Nelson Chamber of Commerce. (leave of absence until end of campaign, if elected I will step down from the board)

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT / PARTICIPATION DE LA COMMUNAUTÉ:

Deep roots in the community; many friends and family. I also own/run a local technology business that services other local businesses & industry, and as such have made many contacts in the community, city counselors, other prominent community members.

PLATFORM / MANIFESTE:

I am very vocal about my support for platforms that the party endorses. Copyright, privacy, patents, net neutrality, etc are issues that are starting to affect Canadian citizens' every day life, and thus need to be regulated to prevent governments and corporations from arbitrarily legislating and controlling all aspects of business/pleasure in our free country.

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Director's Evaluation
(where applicable, include Director's interview/evaluation)

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Official Agent Information
(include basic info here)

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Official Auditor Information
(include basic info here)

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Event Dates & Information
(info on any events, volunteer meetings, battle planning)

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Collateral and Advertising Materials
(image links to all posters, brochures, etc)

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Volunteer List
(list of volunteers, if available)

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Voting Results
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Post-Election Reports
For me, this April was definitely being thrown into the deep end of the pool. Without previous political experience and virtually no volunteers it was quite an undertaking, but a great experience nonetheless. More time in preparation creating a focused plan of action, both with PPCA folk and local campaign volunteers would have been immensely beneficial, as would have been time to take the temperature of the riding so that accurate platforms representing the interests of the riding's constituents could have been properly and fully built. Meeting and talking with the other candidates over a period of roughly two weeks on the road was amazing. There were five all-candidates meetings in the PGPR riding that I was invited to take part in – the furthest points being roughly 1000km from each other. Being part of the discussion was good for myself, the PPCA and for those listening. There wasn't a whole lot of enquiry directed at me during question periods, but typically all the candidates were allowed to answer, so I still had quite a bit of opportunity to speak. Interacting with voters before and after the meetings provided many interesting conversations, however, the majority of which were positive. As is common in the riding (and likely many ridings across Canada), the attendees were predominantly older people, and as such they were very impressed that a young guy was getting involved – many had encouraging words for me, which also opened the door allowing me to speak a bit about the platform. Media coverage in the area was also unexpectedly heavy. I was contacted and interviewed by no fewer than five newspapers, three radio stations, one tv station and a local, online vlog of sorts. The coverage was predominantly positive, even by the outlets that didn't contact or interview me and just reported on the all-candidates meetings. I had several front page articles and was also able to tape a one-minute spot for the CBC station in Prince George that was aired repeatedly a week prior to the election. I also attended the annual trade fair / home show in my home town the weekend before the election as a PPCA candidate. I handed out hundreds of brochures, talked with people of all ages and even got to discuss/debate my platform at length with some.

While it went smoothly, all things considered, there are many improvements that could be made. As this was the first general election for the PPCA, I have no doubt many of these will be addressed between now and 4–5 years from now, especially with one under our collective belts and an eye towards the future. Here's what my campaign could have benefitted from that the PPCA could have provided:


 * Flyers, brochures, signs, buttons – PDFs or w.h.y. that are easy to take to a local printers, with consistent graphics across all.
 * Roadmap/timeline for getting necessary things done in the campaign.
 * Dedicated consultant who can answer any/every question that candidates and volunteers ask.
 * Media contacts or a media rep for the PPCA who can develop leads for candidates.
 * More candidate meetings during the campaign – candidates/volunteers can share ideas, what's working, what's not, etc.

Thanks for the opportunity to run and represent the cause. If you've got any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me.

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