Leadnow calls on Canadians to find 13 “hero” Tory MPs to help stop Harper’s “Environmental Devastation Act”

June 13 is your chance to stand up for your democracy

No 499 Posted by fw, June 9, 2012

Leadnow.ca is looking for 13 Conservative MP heroes

The key vote on the Federal Budget Bill could come as soon as next Thursday, June 14, and the opposition parties are gearing up to use every tool they have, including a filibuster, in a final effort to slow the Bill down and split it apart.

On Wednesday, June 13th at 5:30PM local time, while our MPs gather in Ottawa for a decisive showdown in Parliament, we’ll rally their home ridings, and communities across Canada, to call for 13 “hero” Conservative MPs to work together and stop the Bill, split it, and start over.

By working together, 13 Conservative MPs can make sure Prime Minister Harper and his cabinet have to change plans or lose the support of the majority of votes in Parliament they need to pass the Budget Bill. We’re using the term “hero” because we know many Conservative MPs have private concerns about the bill, and because in our increasingly undemocratic Parliament an MP would have to be a “hero” to represent their constituents.

More and more Canadians, including many conservatives, are rallying to defend our democracy and stand together against the Federal Budget Bill. Thanks to you, last Saturday’s “Blackmark” day of action was a huge success. With 106 events, 3,000 participants, and extensive media coverage in communities across the country, your day of action helped build a wave of opposition to the Federal Budget Bill, a wave that is sweeping the country.

Let’s keep building on this momentum and show our MPs that Canadians will stand up for their democracy.

We need your help. Will you join us and attend, promote or host an event during the June 13th “13 Hero” Day of Action at Conservative MP offices and support locations across the country?

Canadians are coming together to stand against the Federal Budget Bill. The Budget Bill contains changes to over 70 laws. It’s a sweeping agenda that would gut our environmental protections, hollow out our economy and damage our society. This Bill will affect all of our lives, and it is being rushed through Parliament without time for open debate or public scrutiny. If it passes unchanged, the Budget Bill will further erode our democracy, and fundamentally change our country.

Even some traditional Conservative allies are now saying that the Harper Conservatives have gone too far. David Wilks, a Conservative MP, told a small group of his constituents that he, and many other Conservative MPs, were deeply troubled by the Budget Bill and that he would consider voting against it if 12 of his colleagues, enough to stop the bill, stood with him. A day later, after receiving intense pressure from the Harper Conservatives, Wilks publicly reversed his position. It’s our job to counter that pressure, and create space for MPs to represent their constituents.

It’s time to stand up together and rally our ridings. Together, we can create a powerful call for our local MPs to be pro-democracy heroes and represent their constituents by stopping the Bill, splitting it, and starting over – while we show the Prime Minister Harper and his cabinet that there will be real political consequences if they run roughshod over our country.

Click here to find an event near you: http://www.leadnow.ca/heroes

Why “13 Heroes?”

While the opposition parties step up their efforts to slow down and split apart the Federal Budget Bill, Conservative MPs are under intense pressure to pass the bill from Harper and his cabinet. It’s our job to counter that pressure, and call on them to represent their constituents and a majority of Canadians by stopping this bill, splitting it and starting over.

1. The Opposition parties are already united against the Budget Bill, and, by working together, 13 Conservative MPs can make sure that Prime Minister Harper and his cabinet have to change plans or lose the support of the majority of votes in Parliament they need to pass the Budget Bill.

2. We will shine a spotlight on the choices being made by individual Conservative MPs, and focus the national conversation onto the fact that concern about this Bill reaches all the way across the political spectrum.

3. Finally, we will highlight the fact that our representatives have become increasingly powerless to represent their constituents in Ottawa, and kick-start a much needed debate about the need for democratic reforms and the opportunity for MPs to reclaim some independence.

Fair Use Notice: This blog, Citizen Action Monitor, may contain copyrighted material that may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material, published without profit, is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues. It is published in accordance with the provisions of the 2004 Supreme Court of Canada ruling and its six principle criteria for evaluating fair dealing.

leadnow.ca urges citizens to demand full public inquiry into dirty tricks election practices by Tory operatives

This news casts doubt on legitimacy of Harper’s majority,which it only narrowly won by 6,201 votes in 14 ridings

If the public inquiry finds widespread electoral fraud, we could contest the results and demand by-elections in the affected ridings

Send your email now. Join upwards of 18,000 Canadians who have already emailed federal party leaders.

No 421 Posted by fw, February 26, 2012

The Cons “scapegoat story doesn’t make sense for a host of reasons. Here’s one: it costs a lot of money to robocall 27 ridings, who paid for it? A public inquiry, backed by Elections Canada and the RCMP, can follow the money to find the people and organizations responsible.” —leadnw.ca

In an action alert email to its tens of thousands of members, leadnow.ca is asking them and Canadians in general to contact federal party leaders to demand answers, namely: Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada; Nycole Turmel, Leader, New Democratic Party; Bob Rae, Leader, Liberal Party; Louis Plamondon, Parliamentary Leader, Bloc Québécois; Elizabeth May, Leader, Green Party; and William H. Corbett, Commissioner of Elections Canada.

Here’s an abridged and slightly edited copy of leadnow’s email –

This is as big as it gets. Elections Canada has just traced misleading phone calls made during the 2011 federal election to a company that worked for the Conservative Party across the country. We’re sending you this urgent action alert because we need to speak out now to demand answers and real consequences before this story is buried.

The “robocalls” appear to be designed to stop non-Conservative voters from casting ballots in 18 to 27 key ridings by falsely telling voters that the location of their polling stations had changed, causing them to go to the wrong location on election day. Fraudulent election calls traced to Edmonton firm with Tory links

This news casts doubt on the legitimacy of Prime Minister Harper’s majority Government. The Conservatives only narrowly won their majority by 6,201 votes in 14 ridings. Tallying the Conservative win in 14 ridings: 6,201 reasons to be frustrated

Let’s shine a bright light on these shadowy practices by telling the leaders of all political parties that we demand a full and independent public inquiry to expose the facts about the robocall scandal and ensure that the penalty for this election fraud matches the consequences of the crime – including possible by-elections in the affected ridings.

Take a minute to send a prepared message to all the party leaders and your MP demanding a full public inquiry and real consequences for election fraud. Go to:  http://www.leadnow.ca/robocall-fraud

The Conservatives have known this story was coming, and we believe their communications strategy is to blame a 20-something staffer in Guelph and then hope the Elections Canada investigation drags on, out of sight, for years. Robocalls complaints cost Conservative staffer his job

But the scapegoat story doesn’t make sense for a host of reasons. Here’s one: it costs a lot of money to robocall 27 ridings, who paid for it? A public inquiry, backed by Elections Canada and the RCMP, can follow the money to find the people and organizations responsible.

The stakes are huge. If the public inquiry finds widespread electoral fraud, we could contest the results and demand by-elections in the affected ridings. According to the Canada Elections Act:

524. (1) Any elector who was eligible to vote in an electoral district, and any candidate in an electoral district, may, by application to a competent court, contest the election in that electoral district on the grounds that
(a) under section 65 the elected candidate was not eligible to be a candidate; or (b) there were irregularities, fraud or corrupt or illegal practices that affected the result of the election.

We have seen more and more examples of election fraud in recent years. Now, we need answers and real consequences that lay the foundation for new laws to protect the integrity of Canadian elections.

Click here to send your message to the party leaders and Elections Canada. [Join upwards of 18,000 Canadians who have already sent their emails].

Thanks for all you do.

With hope and respect,

Matthew, Jamie, Anna, Emma, Adam, Gracen, Ryan on behalf of the Leadnow team and volunteers

RELATED STORY

• Robocalls to trick voters draw opposition fire, by By Laura Payton, CBC News, Feb 23, 2012 –“The Conservatives defended themselves Thursday over links to a company used to make fraudulent phone calls that sent some voters to the wrong polling stations last year. The party’s elite, from Prime Minister Stephen Harper to Jenni Byrne, who ran the national campaign during the 2011 election, was forced to address the issue after a report in the Ottawa Citizen.”

Fair Use Notice: This blog, Citizen Action Monitor, may contain copyrighted material that may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material, published without profit, is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues. It is published in accordance with the provisions of the 2004 Supreme Court of Canada ruling and its six principle criteria for evaluating fair dealing.

Harper uses closed-door intimidation tactics against Canadian charities over western pipeline

No 394 Posted by fw, January 27, 2012

Thanks to leadnow.ca for this January 26, 2012 Stop the Threats alert.  Canadians who wish to participate in this write-in protest should do so in the next few days by clicking on this link: http://www.leadnow.ca/fair-hearings.

This week, we learned that the Harper Government is using closed-door intimidation tactics against Canadian charities. They’re trying to silence groups that question our government’s plans to push the Enbridge western pipeline and supertankers project through overwhelming local opposition, and recklessly expand the tar sands at all costs.

A whistleblower just revealed that the Prime Minister’s Office threatened to revoke the charitable status of Tides Canada if they continue their support for ForestEthics, an environmental group that has engaged thousands of Canadians in the public hearings about the Enbridge project.¹

According to the whistleblower, a former senior communications manager for ForestEthics named Andrew Frank, the Prime Minister’s Office told Tides Canada they consider ForestEthics to be an “enemy of the Government of Canada” because of the group’s opposition to the Enbridge pipeline and tar sands expansion.¹

This is about more than our jobs and environment. It’s about our rights and our democracy, and we need to speak out now. Together, we can stop these closed-door intimidation tactics by shining a bright light of public attention on our government’s actions.

While we don’t know exactly what was said behind closed doors, the Globe and Mail reports that the Harper Government has called ForestEthics a group “acting against the government of Canada and people of Canada” in private meetings designed to intimidate charitable funders.² And Peter Robinson, the Chief Executive Officer of the David Suzuki Foundation, says that environmental groups are “right to worry” that the government will threaten the charitable status of groups they disagree with in order to shut down debate.³

The latest threats are part of a much larger pattern. Internal documents from March 2011 outline the Harper Government’s strategy to spend Canadian tax dollars on a PR and lobbying campaign to derail Europe’s climate and environmental policy. The foreign lobbying strategy lists First Nations and environmental groups as the government’s “adversaries,” while oil companies, industry associations, and the National Energy Board are listed as the government’s “allies.”⁴

Our government’s job is to provide a free and open forum for Canadians to hear the arguments and evidence for and against the Enbridge western pipeline and oil supertanker project, so that together we can decide whether or not the project is in Canada’s best interests.

Instead, Prime Minister Harper is abusing the power of government to silence Canadians who are concerned about a project that will kill jobs, destabilize the climate and threaten our salmon and coast.

The public hearings about the Enbridge western pipeline and supertanker project are now severely compromised in three ways:

1. The Harper Government has directly biased the hearings with a massive PR campaign to discredit environmental organizations as “foreign special interests” and “radical groups” while privately threatening Canadian charities.⁵
2. The National Energy Board has stacked the deck for the Enbridge western pipeline and supertanker hearings by issuing a directive that muzzles any discussion about the environmental impacts of the tar sands. In this way, they’ve ensured the hearings will overstate the benefits of the pipeline by ignoring the major costs of expanding the tar sands.⁶
3. The National Energy Board has committed to consult with First Nations, but it has not committed to respect the rights of First Nations to provide “free, prior and informed consent” over any project that affects their territory. Over 70 First Nations groups, covering the entire proposed path of the pipeline and much of the BC coast, have already stood together to oppose the project.^7,8

We are seeing a radical shift in our national conversation, an aggressive attempt to poison the well of debate with public smears and private threats against organizations that Canadians have built to help us all have a voice on the issues that matter.

We need your help to speak out and tell Prime Minister Harper that Canadians will not be silenced.

PS – Emma Pullman, Leadnow’s research director, has found very close ties between industry front-group EthicalOil.org, the Sun Media network and the Prime Minister’s Office that suggest they have a coordinated strategy to create an echo chamber for pro-oil industry and anti-environmental group talking points. You can learn more here: http://www.desmogblog.com/friends-benefits-harper-government-ethicaloil-org-and-sun-media-connection

Sources:

1. Affidavit accuses Prime Minister’s Office of threatening environmental charity http://www.globaltvbc.com/canada/affidavit+accuses+prime+ministers+office+of+threatening+environmental+charity/6442566233/story.html
2. Environmentalist’s departure sheds light on tension felt by green groups http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/activists-dismissal-raises-the-temperature-in-pipeline-debate/article2313991/
3. Attack on “radicals” sign of tougher federal strategy http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/01/11/pol-gateway-pipeline-strategy.html
4. Feds list First Nations, green groups as oilsands “adversaries” http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Feds+list+First+Nations+green+groups+oilsands+adversaries/6054920/story.html
5. ”Scary time” for Canada http://www.vancouverobserver.com/sustainability/2012/01/25/scary-time-canada
6. Canadian pipeline needs aboriginal consent: chief http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/25/us-aboriginals-idUSTRE80O1SC20120125
7. Save the Fraser Declaration http://savethefraser.ca
8. Whistleblower’s Open Letter to Canadians http://www.scribd.com/doc/79228736/Whistleblower-s-Open-Letter-to-Canadians
9. PMO branded environmental group an ‘enemy’ of Canada, affidavit says http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1120800–pmo-branded-environmental-group-an-enemy-of-canada-affidavit-says
10. Affidavit accuses Prime Minister’s Office of threatening environmental charity http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/greenpage/affidavit-accuses-prime-ministers-office-of-threatening-environmental-charity-137994418.html
11. Affidavit accuses PMO of threatening environmental group http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20120124/pmo-affidavit-environment-120124/

Fair Use Notice: This blog, Citizen Action Monitor, may contain copyrighted material that may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material, published without profit, is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues. It is published in accordance with the provisions of the 2004 Supreme Court of Canada ruling and its six principle criteria for evaluating fair dealing.