For years I have been calling for riders to get on board with forming a Coalition here in Alberta.
BC has the BC Coalition of Motorcyclists, Saskatchewan has a coalition (No web site yet), so does Manitoba and Ontario and even Quebec has a group that is organized to protect riders rights. But here in Alberta we can't seem to organize ourselves, to work together for the common good.
Instead there are these small pockets of people - very small pockets, who dig in and do what needs to get done and it appears that everyone else either has no empathy or no desire or no time to get involved.
There is an article out of Wetaskiwin Alberta where in riders protested the Edmonton Motorcycle Only Noise Bylaw by supporting the Wetaskiwin Toy Run. OK, I guess that using a charity to get your point across may have some impact but does the EPS really care why noisy bikes stay out of their city?
Not a chance. You have helped them to achieve their goal. The EPS doesn't care that a charity is being hurt - they are doing their job and that is all they care about.
What I want to know is, where were these riders when Liane Langlois was working like a fiend to get this bylaw repealed? When the plea was put out there to raise funds to help with the fight - where were they? When the plea for volunteers was put out to gather signatures for a petition, where were they?
I know that life is busy, that it is hard to make time for lobbying, supporting each other but folks, if WE don't do it who is going to?
The city of Edmonton might care about the impact of their bylaw if someone actually did a study that proves the economic benefit that Edmonton derives from motorcycle based charity events, motorcycle tourism and the motorcycle industry and the jobs it sustains that will and are going by the way side.
You see if we had a Coalition - that is something that could have been prepared and presented to Edmonton City Council. Dollars and sense, statistics - that's what bureaucrats are looking for.
Years ago, BCCOM - the BC Coalition of Motorcyclists tried unsuccessfully to start ACOM here - the Alberta Coalition of Motorcyclists. It failed miserably. Why? Not enough riders would commit to getting involved.
I am wondering if finally, the time has come that the Alberta Riding Community is under enough pressure from Law Enforcement and municipalities that they will actually decide to start working together.
Our wonderful highways and the unsafe road repairs in this province and the dangers they hold for everyone who rides, the road snakes, the tire debris, HOV Lane use, the disgusting way many event coordinators are treated with regards to getting their liquor licenses for motorcycle events, the oppressive treatment by police officers of our Veteran's MC's - all of these things could be being fought for, protected if only we had some people paid to do the job - because one thing is for certain, volunteers aren't going to get the job done - not here in Alberta. Too many are burnt out raising money for their local and heartfelt charities, living their lives, raising kids and working.
We need to start a non profit BUSINESS -The Alberta Alliance of Motorcyclists and we need to pay people to work for our rights and freedoms.
We need to find a way for this non profit business to be able to sustain itself.
We would need a full time office admin, a grant writer, a membership manager, a web designer, a media specialist, a lobbyist, a couple of different kinds of lawyers on retainer and a fund raising specialist.
Their jobs would be to lobby for the protection of our Charter rights for free speech, freedom of association and expression and to fight for our rights to expect equal treatment under the law.
They would keep the community informed through the coalition meetings and through the various medias. The alliance would bring the concerns and needs to the office and the office would then create and execute the plan to address those concerns and needs.
In order to be taken seriously at all, we need to unite. We are some 80K strong here in Alberta. If we raised our voices together - we could make an impact on the quality of our lives as riders.
So, how do we go about finding the right people to fill the positions of lobbyist, activist, rider support services, education and liasoning with the province and police? Well first, we need to get everyone we can to the table. We need to find a way to raise money to get started.
We then put out a call for people in the community who have the background and skill to do the jobs and we find out what it would cost to have them work for us. Once we hired at least one staff, then we would need a fundraiser - one person whose job it would be to attract sponsors, host events, and find a way for the non profit to sustain itself. This person would work hand in hand with the grant writer to identify grants to accomplish certain jobs.
You see there are grants like the ones that we just got conditional approval for here in Grande Prairie.
We are going to be launching a test project for High Collision Intersections.
We could have a professional whose job it would be to write grant proposals for all sorts of things that address needs within our community.
We could have many things being done in a coordinated and effective manner if we treated this like a business. We could be impacting our cities and communities in a very effective way.
Think about seriously folks. We have an Alliance that directs people in an office to meet the needs and objectives of our community. And then we could have a National Alliance to assist with the exact same issues - sharing of information - assisting with needs on the Federal level....
Am I a dreamer or what?
Like every day I welcome your feedback and input. I love it when you talk to me and share with me - it helps me to grow and I feel that it helps many others to grow as well.
There is a ton of news today on top of your National Newspaper...it's Thursday so your weekly Busted Knuckle Chronicles should have been delivered with your provincial newsletter. I hope you enjoy the read and consider getting involved.
The Busted Knuckle Chronicles is here to serve every province and every community so if your community or province doesn't have great representation, why not send us in your articles and share what's happening in your community? An informed community can become a strong and healthy community.
In other news:
A group of riders in Nova Scotia completed an Iron Butt ride
In Ontario, a rider is left paralyzed after a crash and the OPP is looking for a rogue rider
Barrie is considering a noise bylaw aimed at guess who...
Hamilton is excited to be getting it's own major bike show
In BC, 100 mile house is getting ready for it's toy run
In Whistler a guy riding his bike in an unsafe manner crashed injuring himself and his passenger
In Alberta, Airdire has given approval for the CAV to put up crosses to honor the fallen of that community
Yes folks, on top of your provincial newsletter and your National Newspaper, the news feeds from the main stream medias and the riding clubs who submitted stuff too late for the above mentioned publication, are full again today!
So come one, get informed. There is no reason for you to not know what is going on in your neck of the woods just because you don't belong to a riding club or get your local newspaper...you can find it all over at www.beltdrivebetty.com
Riding clubs - the more you share - the better chance you have of growing your events and membership and businesses - when you share whats going on you too have a chance to grow.
So come on folks, spread the word, get involved, talk to each other...let's unite and work together. Our Community is worth Celebrating and PROTECTING - Whining and snivelling isn't going to get us anywhere but a little elbow grease and a whole lot of communication will...
If you are riding today, PLEASE ride like everyone around is blind and can not see you.
If you are injured in a crash and need help, remember the Rider Friendly Business Association has 2 motorcycle lawyers who can help you. Darryl Brown in BC and Braithwaite Boyle that serves Alberta, BC, the Yukon and NWT (Braithwaite Boyle has many offices to serve you)
Until tomorrow...
Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider
BC has the BC Coalition of Motorcyclists, Saskatchewan has a coalition (No web site yet), so does Manitoba and Ontario and even Quebec has a group that is organized to protect riders rights. But here in Alberta we can't seem to organize ourselves, to work together for the common good.
Instead there are these small pockets of people - very small pockets, who dig in and do what needs to get done and it appears that everyone else either has no empathy or no desire or no time to get involved.
There is an article out of Wetaskiwin Alberta where in riders protested the Edmonton Motorcycle Only Noise Bylaw by supporting the Wetaskiwin Toy Run. OK, I guess that using a charity to get your point across may have some impact but does the EPS really care why noisy bikes stay out of their city?
Not a chance. You have helped them to achieve their goal. The EPS doesn't care that a charity is being hurt - they are doing their job and that is all they care about.
What I want to know is, where were these riders when Liane Langlois was working like a fiend to get this bylaw repealed? When the plea was put out there to raise funds to help with the fight - where were they? When the plea for volunteers was put out to gather signatures for a petition, where were they?
I know that life is busy, that it is hard to make time for lobbying, supporting each other but folks, if WE don't do it who is going to?
The city of Edmonton might care about the impact of their bylaw if someone actually did a study that proves the economic benefit that Edmonton derives from motorcycle based charity events, motorcycle tourism and the motorcycle industry and the jobs it sustains that will and are going by the way side.
You see if we had a Coalition - that is something that could have been prepared and presented to Edmonton City Council. Dollars and sense, statistics - that's what bureaucrats are looking for.
Years ago, BCCOM - the BC Coalition of Motorcyclists tried unsuccessfully to start ACOM here - the Alberta Coalition of Motorcyclists. It failed miserably. Why? Not enough riders would commit to getting involved.
I am wondering if finally, the time has come that the Alberta Riding Community is under enough pressure from Law Enforcement and municipalities that they will actually decide to start working together.
Our wonderful highways and the unsafe road repairs in this province and the dangers they hold for everyone who rides, the road snakes, the tire debris, HOV Lane use, the disgusting way many event coordinators are treated with regards to getting their liquor licenses for motorcycle events, the oppressive treatment by police officers of our Veteran's MC's - all of these things could be being fought for, protected if only we had some people paid to do the job - because one thing is for certain, volunteers aren't going to get the job done - not here in Alberta. Too many are burnt out raising money for their local and heartfelt charities, living their lives, raising kids and working.
We need to start a non profit BUSINESS -The Alberta Alliance of Motorcyclists and we need to pay people to work for our rights and freedoms.
We need to find a way for this non profit business to be able to sustain itself.
We would need a full time office admin, a grant writer, a membership manager, a web designer, a media specialist, a lobbyist, a couple of different kinds of lawyers on retainer and a fund raising specialist.
Their jobs would be to lobby for the protection of our Charter rights for free speech, freedom of association and expression and to fight for our rights to expect equal treatment under the law.
They would keep the community informed through the coalition meetings and through the various medias. The alliance would bring the concerns and needs to the office and the office would then create and execute the plan to address those concerns and needs.
In order to be taken seriously at all, we need to unite. We are some 80K strong here in Alberta. If we raised our voices together - we could make an impact on the quality of our lives as riders.
So, how do we go about finding the right people to fill the positions of lobbyist, activist, rider support services, education and liasoning with the province and police? Well first, we need to get everyone we can to the table. We need to find a way to raise money to get started.
We then put out a call for people in the community who have the background and skill to do the jobs and we find out what it would cost to have them work for us. Once we hired at least one staff, then we would need a fundraiser - one person whose job it would be to attract sponsors, host events, and find a way for the non profit to sustain itself. This person would work hand in hand with the grant writer to identify grants to accomplish certain jobs.
You see there are grants like the ones that we just got conditional approval for here in Grande Prairie.
We are going to be launching a test project for High Collision Intersections.
We could have a professional whose job it would be to write grant proposals for all sorts of things that address needs within our community.
We could have many things being done in a coordinated and effective manner if we treated this like a business. We could be impacting our cities and communities in a very effective way.
Think about seriously folks. We have an Alliance that directs people in an office to meet the needs and objectives of our community. And then we could have a National Alliance to assist with the exact same issues - sharing of information - assisting with needs on the Federal level....
Am I a dreamer or what?
Like every day I welcome your feedback and input. I love it when you talk to me and share with me - it helps me to grow and I feel that it helps many others to grow as well.
There is a ton of news today on top of your National Newspaper...it's Thursday so your weekly Busted Knuckle Chronicles should have been delivered with your provincial newsletter. I hope you enjoy the read and consider getting involved.
The Busted Knuckle Chronicles is here to serve every province and every community so if your community or province doesn't have great representation, why not send us in your articles and share what's happening in your community? An informed community can become a strong and healthy community.
In other news:
A group of riders in Nova Scotia completed an Iron Butt ride
In Ontario, a rider is left paralyzed after a crash and the OPP is looking for a rogue rider
Barrie is considering a noise bylaw aimed at guess who...
Hamilton is excited to be getting it's own major bike show
In BC, 100 mile house is getting ready for it's toy run
In Whistler a guy riding his bike in an unsafe manner crashed injuring himself and his passenger
In Alberta, Airdire has given approval for the CAV to put up crosses to honor the fallen of that community
Yes folks, on top of your provincial newsletter and your National Newspaper, the news feeds from the main stream medias and the riding clubs who submitted stuff too late for the above mentioned publication, are full again today!
So come one, get informed. There is no reason for you to not know what is going on in your neck of the woods just because you don't belong to a riding club or get your local newspaper...you can find it all over at www.beltdrivebetty.com
Riding clubs - the more you share - the better chance you have of growing your events and membership and businesses - when you share whats going on you too have a chance to grow.
So come on folks, spread the word, get involved, talk to each other...let's unite and work together. Our Community is worth Celebrating and PROTECTING - Whining and snivelling isn't going to get us anywhere but a little elbow grease and a whole lot of communication will...
If you are riding today, PLEASE ride like everyone around is blind and can not see you.
If you are injured in a crash and need help, remember the Rider Friendly Business Association has 2 motorcycle lawyers who can help you. Darryl Brown in BC and Braithwaite Boyle that serves Alberta, BC, the Yukon and NWT (Braithwaite Boyle has many offices to serve you)
Until tomorrow...
Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider
A strong organization for bikers' rights is always a positive thing. Good luck. Glad we have several here in Texas.
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