Joanna Killen speaking at the Black Lives Matter rally in King's Square.
Saint John residents are frustrated that their voices on social media aren’t being heard by local politicians.
Joanna Killen is an activist who introduced a petition to create a coalition that would work with representatives from the Saint John Police Force to ensure transparency.
A number of residents reached out expressing a mutual interest in working to create a dialog with local government. Now, residents that began organizing through social media are working to build a grassroots collective which would push for accountability and public dialog between constituents and the city’s elected leaders.
“How amazing is that, if we don’t have to be afraid of speaking out?,” Killen said. “We can come together and work on issues that have plagued our community for years.”
As the grassroots collective begins to take shape, Killen says they plan to model the group after Progress Toronto, a progressive citizen-led coalition which aims to boost accountability, while dismantling gate-keeping in municipal politics. People with experience working in subjects like mental health and local government offered to help provide resources for locals who might want to run for office.
A few weeks after introducing her petition at June’s Black Lives Matter rally, Killen posted to social media to show negative feedback she received from Councillor Blake Armstrong for her attempt to discuss the city’s police service. In response to an e-mail titled “We need to defund police in our community,” Armstrong told Killen he hoped she would “never need help and have to call Police (sic).”
In a series of tweets, Mayor Don Darling called Armstrong’s comments “unacceptable.”
Besides the response from Armstrong, Killen says she was met with encouragement from a number of other councillors who support the movement to improve dialog with their constituents.
Local politicians have been turning to online meetings of late. Darling recently hosted a Q and A session on social media, while M.P. of the Saint John-Rothesay riding Wayne Long has scheduled a similar session on his Facebook and Instagram account for Tuesday, July 7.
Killen says it’s pivotal for politicians to continue providing online outlets to reach out, especially while society deals with a pandemic which makes in-person meetings risky.
“It should be easy for (politicians) to not have to meet in person to talk. They can jump on a Zoom call, or have a group phone call. Openness and transparency is what we haven’t demanded enough of,” said Killen.
Full video & text on Facebook & Instagram. Both public. @joannakillen Link to submit a Letter to the @saintjohnpolice https://t.co/GWHpli1G7V pic.twitter.com/fVTYPoenuy
— Joanna Killen (@joannakillen) June 27, 2020
