Don’t vote for Harper: Canadian musicians
p2pnet news view | P2P | Politics:- “For the last two years, the Harper government has done everything it could to wreck the world’s efforts to fix climate change. With Harper close to winning a majority government, Canadians are coming together across party lines to save the planet and vote for the candidate in their riding that is most likely to defeat the Conservative.”
So says Avaaz.ca, a 300,000-strong global web movement.
“Avaaz” means “Voice” in many Asian, Middle Eastern and Eastern European languages, it says, going on »»»
Technology and the internet have allowed citizens to connect and mobilize like never before. The rise of a new model of internet-driven, people-powered politics is changing countries from Australia to the Philippines to the United States.
Couldn’t have said it better.
Now, “To inspire our campaign, a fantastic group of top Canadian artists have come together to create the Avaaz Stop Harper anthem ‘You Have a Choice,’ it says in a statement.
Artists taking part include include K-OS, Ed from Barenaked Ladies, Sarah Harmer, Hawksley Workman, Jason Collett from Broken Social Scene, and others.
Click here for a download.
Meanwhile, “Avaaz began its campaign a week ago by asking its 300,000 Canadian members to show their support by donating,” Says the organisation, continuing »»»
Twenty-four hours later Avaaz met its fundraising target of $50,000. A new target of $100,000 was met three days after that. On Sunday, Avaaz launched an online campaign for voters to pledge to vote strategically against Harper. The campaign received over 7,000 pledges overnight.
“The response from Canadians has been overwhelming,” said Avaaz Executive Director Ricken Patel.
“This kind of people-powered campaign only works when you have enormous pent-up energy among voters. People are furious with Stephen Harper for blocking global efforts to avert a climate crisis. We barely recognize our country with this leader, and we’re determined to use our votes effectively to get back the Canada we love.”
Avaaz will focus its campaign to demonstrate that strategic voting benefits all the opposition parties. This will be highlighted by specific efforts to defeat key Harper lieutenants – the most significant of which will be full-page ads in major newspapers. Avaaz will rally behind NDP candidate Mike Bocking to defeat Conservative MP Randy Kamp, Liberal candidate David Pratt to defeat Environment Minister John Baird, and Green Party leader Elizabeth May to defeat Defense Minister Peter Mackay. Avaaz members in Quebec are currently organizing a Quebec campaign with a Bloc endorsement.
“We have seen this happen in countries like Australia, the US, the Philippines and Indonesia. The Internet is fostering a new brand of people-powered politics, and it is challenging regimes like Harper’s around the world. The next 8 days will be just the beginning for Canada.”
Avaaz is mounting just one of many significant grassroots efforts this election. Strategic voting sites like voteforenvironment.ca, anyonebutharper.ca and voteforclimate.ca are popping up all over the web. Vote swap sites are getting serious attention as well. Groups of Canadian scientists, artists, environmental NGOs, and concerned citizens are all mounting major efforts against Harper and his anti-environment agenda.
“Last week we started to see the tide turn. Just in time, Canadians are beginning to understand what’s at stake in this election, and the more they learn about Stephen Harper, the more passionately they want to defeat him.
“The Internet will be an accelerating force for this growing movement,” states Avaaz.
It’s correct. P2P means People to People, and that’s where it’s at.
statement – People-powered campaign surges to stop Harper and fight climate change, October 6, 2008
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October 7th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Great, more musicians telling me how to vote.
From their website: “A vote for Harper is a vote to kill the Earth”
….wow….the stakes really are huge eh? Ha ha. Stupid fucking people.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
more stupid is you voting for the guy that brought us bill-c61.
October 8th, 2008 at 3:45 am
re: October 7th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
First of all mind your manners online, it’s not hard to find your IP and your location. You forgot to hide it?
Then See http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/3439/125/
and http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7065205277695921912
and learn fool.
To Harper:
Shame on you. YOU’RE FIRED!
Your kids will know of your legacy.
October 8th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
“more stupid is you voting for the guy that brought us bill-c61.”
That was Jim Prentice, and he’s not in my riding. I can’t vote for him nor against him, moron.
October 9th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Boy, you sure don’t have any problem with an American based third party and an American phone number coming into Canada, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on an anti-democratic campaign to tell people to vote Liberal in one riding. If that’s not the ultimate in offensiveness, I don’t know what is.
NOW Toronto, not exactly the Financial Post, seems to have a problem with it though…http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=165214
And I wonder if AVAAZ actually did any homework on supporting David Pratt…after all this is the same guy who wanted Canada to invade Iraq.