Today will be Mark Coffin’s final day as executive director of Springtide. It was 2012 when Mark and others first began talking about building a new organization focused on strengthening democracy in Nova Scotia. Now, eight years later it’s time for a change.
“The Board of Directors appreciates Mark’s dedication and passion for Springtide,” said Lucy Hulford, chair of the Board of Directors at Springtide. “The Board extends sincere congratulations and wishes Mark the best of luck as he moves to the next exciting phase of his career.”
“I’m grateful to the many people who made the work Springtide has done possible,” said Coffin. “In our early years, Springtide was an organization built by volunteers. In more recent years, it’s been donors who have kept the organization running.”
In the weeks ahead Coffin plans to launch an independent media publication.
“One of the most rewarding parts of the work we’ve done at Springtide has involved storytelling and publishing content that helps people understand the political world around them. I’m eager to do more of that and to explore topics beyond politics.”
The Springtide Board remains concerned about the state of democracy in Nova Scotia and across the country, especially in these unprecedented times.
Springtide has one active project at the moment, the Charter Challenge for Fair Voting, a case seeking to have Canada’s first-past-the-post voting system ruled as unfair and unconstitutional. Springtide and Fair Voting BC are joint-applicants on the case, which was filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in October 2019.
Evidence for the case will be filed in the fall of 2020. The challenge has the support of over 900 citizen donors. Springtide board members Jesse Hitchcock and Matt Risser have extensive experience working on electoral reform in Canada and – with the support of the full Board – will oversee the work on that project in collaboration with project partners at Fair Voting BC.
It’s not clear what else the future holds for Springtide. Over the next few months the Board will determine what work (if any) Springtide may initiate beyond this project.
Those interested in volunteering or supporting Springtide’s work can contact Lucy Hulford via email: chair@springtide.ngo.
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For further information, contact:
Lucy Hulford – chair@springtide.ngo
Mark Coffin – mark@springtide.ngo
