Join us 10 AM Saturday January 28th on Zoom for an Information Session on everything about being a Democrats Abroad leader in the Atlantic Provinces!

Here is the Zoom Link to Join

The virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) and 2023 Elections of The Atlantic Chapter of Democrats Abroad Canada will take place Wednesday, March 15, 2023. More information, including the ability to RSVP will be distributed closer to the date.

Nominations from the floor of the AGM will be accepted and decided upon for the position of TREASURER. *

Chair Candidate Statements 

Michele Grant, J.D., (she/her) is a dual U.S.-Canada citizen living in St. John’s, in the ancestral homelands of the Beothuck and Mi’kmaq peoples (Newfoundland and Labrador). After living in the States all of her life, she moved to St. John’s with her spouse in 2017. She is a lawyer licensed in Pennsylvania and is pursuing her call to the bar in NL.

Before moving to Canada, Michele last lived in Philadelphia (PA-03), where she raised her son and went to law school. She was a member of the Citizen Advisory Committee of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), the public transit provider in metro Philadelphia, advocating for city resident ridership. She also served as Secretary of the Board of Directors of the South Street Headhouse District, a quasi-municipal authority, advocating for District residents. For several years she served as Co-chair of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, and occasionally as a regional vice-president of the Guild, reporting to the Guild’s national executive committee.

A Democrat for over 20 years, she worked and volunteered at many elections in Philadelphia, in partisan and non-partisan roles: signature gatherer, poll worker, election observer/protection, data gathering, policy research on judicial elections, and litigation support in ballot access legal challenges.

She welcomes the opportunity to build Atlantic membership and keep Democrats effectively engaged with electoral politics in the U.S.

Luke Roman*

I am currently Vice Chair of the Atlantic Chapter of Democrats Abroad, Canada. I would be very happy to continue carrying out this duty. My experience as Vice Chair over the last few months provided a basis for my future work in the role, and I hope to gain yet more experience if elected. As a professor at Memorial University and Head of the Department of Classics, I have acquired communication and organizational skills appropriate to the position of Vice Chair. Thank you for considering my candidacy. 

Secretary Candidate Statement

Rachel Brickner (Wolfville, Nova Scotia)

I am running for the position of Secretary of the Atlantic Provinces chapter. I am originally from Detroit, Michigan (go Tigers!). I moved to Canada in 1999 to attend McGill University’s PhD program in Political Science. Despite being open to “any academic position, as long as it was in a cool urban area,” I ended up accepting a position at Acadia University in rural Nova Scotia. I’ve been here since 2006. 

I have been involved in the DA-Atlantic Provinces chapter since it rebooted in 2019, initially in the position of Vice-Chair and before serving temporarily as Chair. In these roles I spoke to the media on behalf of the chapter on multiple occasions and gained extensive experience with the DA database. Although my work commitments do not afford me the time necessary to serve in the role of Chair, I have gained substantial knowledge about our chapter and have developed ideas for how to build momentum going into the future. I am looking forward to using these ideas in a role that allows our chapter to be up and running for 2022 and 2024. 

Social Media Coordinator Statement

Devbani Raha

I am an Epidemiologist working in Cancer Care, Nova Scotia Health. I have lived in Canada and the United States, and am a dual citizen of both countries. I lived in Denver, CO and continue to vote in Denver County.

For the past year, I've volunteered with Democrats Abroad Atlantic Chapter in an unofficial media outreach role. I have been the watch party host on Facebook for the presidential debates (2020 elections); I really enjoyed keeping my fellow attendees engaged and commenting throughout the events. I've chaired a meeting on behalf of our Chapter Chair, Dr Rachel Brickner. I've posted in the DA- Atlantic Facebook pages to remind people to vote, send links to reliable information and posted information about upcoming events like the watch parties or DA-Atlantic meetings.

I self identify as a woman and person-of-color.

*Please note that email notification sent March 28th had an error and stated Luke Roman self nominated as Treasurer. Please contact [email protected] with any questions.

*With apologies,
*Julie Buchanan-Chair of the Nominations and Elections Committee

The virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) and 2021 Elections of The Atlantic Chapter of Democrats Abroad Canada will take place Tuesday, April 27, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. RSVP here to get the Zoom link to join the meeting

The Nominations and Elections Committee is seeking nominations for the following offices: The Executive Committee consisting of Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Social Media Coordinator, and Treasurer. The Vice Chair elected shall be a member who is of differing gender to the Chair, as per the by-laws of Democrats Abroad and the rules of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Review the office position descriptions for each here. 

Nominations open March 8, 2021 and will close on Tuesday, March 23, 2021.  

Please send us an email with a Candidate Statement supporting your nominee, or yourself if you are self-nominating. In 200 words or less, describe skills and experience pertinent to the office position for which you or your nominee is running. A nominee must be a Democrats Abroad Canada member, a US citizen, a resident within the boundaries of the Atlantic Provinces Chapter. 

As a Board member you will be expected to actively participate in the management of the Chapter, including attendance at monthly board meetings, either in-person or virtually.

Online ballots will be emailed Monday, April 12, 2021 with instructions on how to complete and submit the ballot by Monday April 26,  2021, 12:00 midnight.

We greatly appreciate your assistance and look forward to receiving your nominations.

Best regards,

Sara Joyce MacDonald, Julie Buchanan and Ed Ungar
Linda MacDonald, Teller
Atlantic Provinces Nominations & Election Committee
email: [email protected]

As of the close of nominations, the position of Treasurer remains open. **

Treasurer: The Treasurer shall manage the finances of the organization, maintain its monthly financial reports to members and make and maintain such financial reports as may be required by law (including without limitation the laws and regulations of the United States and the several States applicable to political parties and contributions to them). All such records shall be open for inspection by members. The Treasurer shall prepare and present to the Annual General Meeting of Democrats Abroad Canada a Statement of Income and Expenses and a Balance Sheet.

The following are brief descriptions of the other positions on the Board:

Chair: The Atlantic Chair shall be the legal representative of Democrats Abroad Canada and the Chief Executive Officer of the organization, and shall preside at all General Meetings and all meetings of the Board. The Chair shall have Membership responsibility for the day-to-day activities of DA Canada - and for execution of all activities approved and undertaken by the Board. The Chair may appoint such ad hoc committees as necessary for the execution of the activities of DA Canada. The  Chair shall be a voting member of all Standing Committees and ad hoc committees. The Chair shall be a voting member of and attend meetings of Democrats Abroad Canada. 

Vice Chair: In the absence of the Chair, the Vice Chair shall call and preside at meetings of members and of the Executive Committee. The Vice Chair shall have other duties such as chairing one or more committees. The Vice Chair shall work with the Chair to ensure all responsibilities approved by and on behalf of the organization are supervised and executed appropriately. The Vice Chair elected shall be a member who is of different gender to the Chair, as per the by-laws of Democrats Abroad and the rules of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

Secretary: The Secretary shall attend and produce minutes for all Board and Executive Committee meetings. The Secretary shall maintain all files and administrative records of the organization. All of such records shall be open for inspection by members. Minutes of all meetings shall be sent to the Executive Committee once approved by the Country Chair and/or Vice Chair. The Secretary shall schedule and coordinate participation for all Board meetings. 

Social Media/Communications Coordinator: The Social Media Coordinator makes posts for upcoming events, moderates live viewing parties, and assists with membership communication, outreach, and involvement. This person will oversee our social media accounts, coordinate media appearances, and work directly with the Canada Communications Officer.

**Please note that email notification sent March 28th had an error and stated Luke Roman self nominated as Treasurer. Please contact [email protected] with any questions.

**With apologies,
**Julie Buchanan-Chair of the Nominations and Elections Committee

Submitting your sealed ballot to the U.S. Consulate:  We'd be happy to accept your sealed voting ballot! Once it is received, we will send it to election officials via diplomatic pouch. Delivery by diplomatic pouch may take a couple of weeks. Please note that it may be faster for you to mail your ballot directly to election officials using the appropriate postage and the fastest method of mailing available. 

Chapter Chairperson Riley Nielson went in CBC radio this week to discuss Democrats Abroad and the Glob Presidential Primary. They had a chance to be featured in the air in three Provinces across Atlantic Canada and encourage members and soon-to-be members to participate and know their rights as Americans living abroad. See below for the full story 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-democrats-abroad-super-tuesday-1.5482008

We would like to thank everyone who attended our panel on Friday and helped make it such a success! We had amazing attendance for our panelists Ajay, Jim, Jay, and David who spoke so eloquently on the topic at hand and providing direction for future conversations. We are hoping that our speaker series continues to be successful as the year continues and are excited to bring many interesting topics to the table, both in Halifax and in our other regions in the near future! 

If you would like to propose a topic for a future panel or if you are interested in hosting a panel closer to your home, please contact Riley Nielson at [email protected] 

DA Atlantic Provinces would like to thank everyone who came out last month for our Thanksgiving Potluck and General Meeting, and to give an extra special thank you to Michelle and Geoffery Sinville for hosting us last night! We had a wonderful dinner and look forward to our next event.

We are in the process of recruiting for two committees: an outreach committee and a Global Primary committee. The outreach committee will work to connect our organization with individuals living outside of the HRM and to build our capacity to best represent them and their needs. The Global Primary committee will work to plan for our March 3rd primary which will be all hands on deck. If you are interested in helping out and/or joining one of these committees, please email Riley Nielson at [email protected]

The Atlantic Provinces Chapter of Democrats Abroad Canada had their general meeting on Earth Day, April 22, 2017. We tried a “mixed” meeting with some folks attending in person, some joining us online via instant messaging and video chat, and some folks sending in e-mail information and ballots. We had a great meeting and are planning some interesting events for later this year.

Results of the Chapter’s elections were:
Chapter Chair – William E. (Bill) Curry

Chapter Vice-Chair – Ilonka Vernier Alexander

Chapter Treasurer – Michael A. Tavares
Chapter Secretary – Neil M. Higsen

Moved by Janet Miller, seconded by Peter Miller and made unanimous by roll call.

The Atlantic Provinces Chapter of Democrats Abroad Canada looks forward to encouraging US citizens living in the Atlantic region of Canada to become involved in the US political process, and is especially looking forward to working for Democrats in the 2018 mid-term elections.
Anyone wishing to join or find out more information should contact:
Bill Curry, Chair - The Atlantic Provinces Chapter of Democrats Abroad Canada
e-mail : [email protected]
phone: 902-649-248

Our Atlantic Chapter AGM is being planned for the end of January, 2017.
We'll be electing officers for the next 2 years.
Stay tuned here for news about the date - we'll also be sending this information out to folks on our list.