Virtual Community Association

Hosted By  The  National Capital  FreeNet

General Information:

The Virtual Community Association (VCA) is no longer in operation. It was intended to provide a forum for individuals resident in the City of Ottawa to share ideas and concerns which affect the entire city or a large portion of it. It's goal was to raise community issues for discussion, debate, analysis, and resolution through democratic means. To a certain extent, these functions are now being fulfilled through the Federation of Citizens Associations (FCA) which is active within the City of Ottawa.

The VCA existed only within its National Capital FreeNet (NCF) discussion groups - it had no meetings, executive, membership dues, affiliations (political or otherwise), or other existence outside of its virtual space. It was an experiment to determine if it could conduct its activities solely in electronic form.

The VCA operated within three discussion groups and one voting area:

• The administrative matters group was intended for discussion of questions and issues regarding the administration of the VCA on the NCF.
• The issues group was where the main business of the VCA took place. It was where community issues were raised and debated, and where information was exchanged.
• The voting group (moderated) was intended for the debate of questions upon which a vote was being conducted.
• Finally, the voting area was a vote tabulation and reporting facility provided by the NCF for collecting votes on specific issues. Questions to be voted upon were posted by the information manager and a voting period established.

During its existence from 1996 through 1999 (approximately), the members prepared several versions of a charter and general operating guidelines. These are retained on this site for historical reference under Charter and Roles and responsibilities.

As a result of discussions, it posted documents regarding specific issues or themes which arose. One of these was Municipal / school board election issues.

The VCA also provided information about and links to other community organizations. This aspect of the experiment proved to be a popular feature and continues to be maintained by one of the original VCA members as a service to the citizens of Ottawa. The information is maintained on two lists:

Information about other community organizations:

• Listing of Ottawa community associations. (Includes ratepayer associations, community action committees, homeowner associations, etc.)

• Other Ottawa community organizations. (Includes federations, associations and other umbrella groups.)