New 'Work the Vote' campaign targets Winnipeg employers

The Social Planning Council of Winnipeg (SPCW) hopes a new campaign will encourage people to head to the polls in the upcoming federal election.

The idea behind "Work the Vote"is for employers to have information readily available in the work place explaining how to vote, and what's needed to cast a ballot.

Kate Kehler, the executive director of the SPCW, said the concept for the campaign was developed after the organization received a small grant to come up with a "get the vote out" campaign focusingon the inner-city.

"We've created some guides specific to each of the five inner-city ridings about how to vote, what you need to vote, ID,all that kind of information," said Kehler. "Butthose are very standard,kind of traditional 'get the vote out'campaigns. Then we just thought, 'What about employers?'They've got a big voice and they have a lot of people who work with them."

According to Elections Canada, official turnout for the federal election in 2011 was 61.1 per cent.

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Kehler said she's trying to relay the message that voting is key in making sure Canadians' voicesare heard by politicians.

"We just want to make sure people feel empowered and engaged," said Kehler. "With only six in 10 voting in the last federal election, we're concerned that people are just completely disengaging from the process and are feeling that their vote doesn't matter, and we know it does."

As part of the effort, the SPCW will provide pro-vote employers with posters, material about how to vote and information from Elections Canada.Kehler said the campaign also asks employers to assign senior staff as pro-vote ambassadors.

"They'd be our contact point," said Kehler. "They would be out promoting the need to vote to the rest of the staff."

Kehler said they'll be pitching the campaign to contacts, businesses, the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce and the Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce.

Loren Remillard, executive vice president of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, said he supports the idea of encouraging people to vote,but he isn't without his reservations.

"No employer wants to be seen as unduly influencing their employees," Remillard said.

Remillard added they will review the material and continue conversations with the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg regarding the campaign.

Kehler wants to be clear the focus is the importance of votingand all the information provided is neutral.

"I'll speak from the employers perception, because I am an employer," said Kehler. "Encouraging my staff to vote is something that I'm comfortable doing because the materials that we are supplying are completely non-partisan and it's also a secret ballot. So, if some employer did tell an employee to vote a particular way, once that employee gets behind that curtain, there's no way the employer can find out."

Canadians head to the polls Oct. 19.