Project Democracy / Projet Démocratie blogs

Canada: Take Back Democracy

michaelw — Mon, 02 May 2011 03:22:10 +0000

Hello Canadian voter,

If we work together, we can stop Stephen Harper and make history. Tomorrow will be a hugely important day for Canada.

It’s possible that strategic voting, the internet, and social media will be a major story once the polls close. But how will the story read?

In order to be successful we need to get strategic voting information out to as many people as possible.

Go to www.ProjectDemocracy.ca to find up-to-date information about how to stop Harper in your riding.

PLEASE SHARE www.ProjectDemocracy.ca WIDELY THROUGH YOUR EMAIL AND SOCIAL MEDIA CONTACTS RIGHT NOW.

Then simply get out and vote. VoteSocial.ca has all the tools you need to vote and have fun doing it with friends.

Working together we can stop a Harper Majority.

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Cher électeurs et électrices,

Si nous coopérons, nous pouvons empêcher Stephen Harper de passer à l’histoire.

Demain sera une journée cruciale pour le Canada.

Il est possible que le vote stratégique, l’internet et les médias sociaux seront des éléments majeurs une fois que le vote sera terminé.

Pour que nous réussissions, nous devons faire connaître le vote stratégique au plus grand nombre de personne possible.

Allez à www.projetdemocratie.ca et trouver l’information la plus à jour afin de battre Harper dans votre comté.

Veuillez partager www.projetdemocratie.ca le plus largement possible à l’aide de votre courriel et des médias sociaux.

Ensuite, allez voter. VoteSocial.ca a tout les outils pour vous aider à voter et à vous amusez avec vos amis.

En travaillant ensemble nous pouvons empêcher qu’Harper n’obtienne sa majorité.

Angus Reid: 50% of Liberal/NDP voters willing to vote strategically to avoid Harper Majority

michaelw — Sun, 01 May 2011 19:23:07 +0000

An incredible openness to strategic voting by progressive Canadians was revealed in the results of Saturday’s Angus Reid poll:

Many pundits focused on groundbreaking numbers solidifying for the NDP while at the same time showing the Harper Conservatives polling dangerously close to majority territory. Most importantly, there was significant data indicating that May 2^nd could be a watershed moment for co-operative voting. Half of all NDP and Liberal voters are now indicating they are willing to vote strategically in this election to prevent Harper from achieving a majority government.

From Angus Reid:

"more than a third of Canadians (36%) are considering voting strategically in order to reduce the chances of a specific party forming the government, even if it means casting a ballot for a candidate they dislike. More than half of Liberals (55%) and more than two-in-five NDP supporters (44%) are pondering this option."

Christian Nadeau: Project Democracy – our best tool for opposing the Harper Conservatives

michaelw — Sun, 01 May 2011 14:47:33 +0000

by Christian Nadeau

It is urgent that we prevent the election of a conservative majority. Stephen Harper has based his hopes on a division of the vote and on rivalry amongst his adversaries. Yet we cannot let ourselves be had this way. We do not want a government contemptuous of Canadian institutions, and which believes it has proprietary rights to our country. We may sometimes doubt the efficacy of the strategic vote, as it requires an important degree of coordination amongst the members of the electorate. But Project Democracy makes this coordination possible. It is thus our best tool for opposing the Harper Conservatives today.

Christian Nadeau is a professor at Université de Montréal where he teaches political philosophy and ethics. His most recent book is Rogue in Power: Why Stephen Harper Is Remaking Canada by Stealth, is published by James Lorimer and Company (2011).

Il faut absolument empêcher l’élection d’un gouvernement conservateur majoritaire. Stephen Harper fonde ses espoirs sur la division du vote et les rivalités entre ses adversaires. Mais nous ne nous laisserons pas faire. Nous ne voulons pas d’un gouvernement qui méprise les institutions du Canada et qui se croit propriétaire de ce pays. On peut parfois douter de l’efficacité du vote stratégique, car cela exige un haut niveau de coordination entre les électeurs. Le Projet Démocratie permet cette coordination. Il est donc l’instrument par excellence pour tous ceux qui veulent s’opposer aux conservateurs de Harper.

Christian Nadeau est professeur au Département de philosophie de l’Université de Montréal. Son dernier livre est Contre Harper: Bref traité philosophique sur la révolution conservatrice, Boréal, 2010.

Patricia Rozema: Make Canada a country you are proud of

michaelw — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:34:48 +0000

by Patricia Rozema

Project Democracy provides a way of holding Stephen Harper's power in check. I worry about what a Harper majority will mean to the country I love. With Project Democracy voters can easily, quickly help make this the country they want to live in by voting strategically. It's important to remember that it is possible, even in Canada, to shut down open discourse. Arrogant leaders honestly believe that it's for their country's own good. We can't let it happen here.

Stephen Harper clearly wants to control traditional media, social media and twitter. He invokes arcane procedures when he doesn't like the way parliament is going. He tries to stir up fear about the perfectly legal normal process of coalition governments. He also rarely makes himself available to answer unscripted questions.

Yes, he's a good calm manager and our country is relatively stable financially. Some of that is, in fact, the Harper minority government's doing. Some of it was the doing of Liberals before him. But our reasonably good performance economically doesn't give him the right to overstep the authority he was given the way that he has. He can't be trusted with our support. I fear issues like abortion, gay marriage, and gun control will all be re-opened. His disregard for environmental concerns would continue unabated.

There's a reason we haven't trusted Harper with the reins in the past. His vision doesn't represent the majority of Canadians.

Yann Martel: It’s a Question of Character

michaelw — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 12:16:24 +0000

by Yann Martel

It’s a question of character. Policies, after all, come and go; they can be changed when the circumstances require it. Throughout Canadian history, governments of whatever stripe have ruled—spending or cutting, creating or abolishing—not according to party ideology but to the perceived needs of the nation. So, for example, the Liberals favoured free trade in 1911, but opposed it in 1988. More recently, the Conservative party, which espouses a populist, small-government, hands-off approach to governance, embarked on a massive spending spree after the 2008 crash.

What this shows is that in Canada, essentially, any government will do. Two mechanisms explain this miracle of governance:

Don’t waste NDP surge opportunity

michaelw — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 04:21:15 +0000

by Alice Klien

Who’s complaining about polling now? The polls have been wild and crazy, but they’re revolutionizing this election. So what’s the message in the madness?

First and foremost, hats off to Quebec. She just can’t seem to help herself. It looks like she just might rescue Canada – again.

Remember, last time out it was Quebec that mostly saved us from a 2008 Harper majority. And it happened poetically. Francophone artists went viral and turned the tide. Once Quebeckers realized that Harper scoffed at the arts, a worrisome flirtation was off and the Conservatives stalled at the same 10 seats they got in 2006. The rest is history.

Pass it on: VoteSocial.ca

michaelw — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 03:12:57 +0000

Change is possible in this election, but only if we all show up.

Project Democracy, Lead Now, and Open Media have joined to create VoteSocial.ca: a simple site where you can find your poll and then make voting social in the last days of the campaign.

This was supposed to be a boring election. Apparently Canadians didn’t get the message.

It’s incredible that turn-out at advanced polls was up 34% over the last election - now all signs are pointing to a major shift in Canadian politics. People like you are changing this election.

In the last days of the campaign it all comes down to this: who can bring the most friends on May 2nd?

George Elliott Clarke: Vote for candidates that respect the Canadian people

michaelw — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 19:43:04 +0000

by George Elliott Clarke

The Harper Conservatives are not Canadian Conservatives. They are U.S. Republicans in Tim Horton's photo-ops.

If you opposed what George Bush did to America (i.e., ruined it), you cannot support the Harper Republican program for Canada. Tax cuts for the rich, prisons for the poor, and war for foreign policy, is no practical program for a great, good, and decent country on the face of this earth.

The proof of just how bad Harper is, is his war against Parliamentary supremacy; his acts of outright contempt for OUR Parliament – and, thus, by extension, for us. When President Nixon tried such maneouvres and shenanigans in the U.S., he was forced to resign from office. And Bush's Republicans were trounced in 2008.

Project Democracy YouTube videos hit the net

michaelw — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 03:59:39 +0000

Click here to view in English

Canada's leading constitutional expert Peter Russell offers statement of support for Project Democracy's efforts

michaelw — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 00:09:25 +0000

Esteemed constitutional scholar author and University of Toronto professor emeritus Peter Russell has added his name to its list of supporters with this important statement.

"This is the most important federal election in my life time. What is at stake is nothing less than parliamentary democracy. If the electorate rewards Mr. Harper with a majority it will mean that he will be able to operate as a presidential prime minister without the check and balance of congress. It will also mean that two out of five Canadians think very little of the need to hold government accountable to parliament. Mr. Harper has reduced parliamentary debate to "bickering" and the role of parliament in the formation of government to irrelevant constitutional stuff. I hope and pray that the parties of parliamentarians win a majority next Monday."

Click here to watch a SpeakUpParlerFort video of Peter Russell speaking on danger The Harper Government poses to Canadian Democracy.

Peter H. Russell is a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Toronto where he taught from 1958-1997. Considered one of Canada's most respect political scientists, Russell was Director of Research for the McDonald Commission on the RCMP, a member of the Federal Task Force on Comprehensive Land Claims, and President of the Canadian Political Science Association. He chaired the Research Advisory Committee for the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. His recent publications include articles on constitutional politics, judicial independence, and Aboriginal peoples. He is the author of Two Cheers for Minority Government: The Evolution of Canadian Parliamentary Democracy.