The Walk-Back Begins

On that Motherhood Steve maternal health thingy.

Or maybe we should call it a flip-flop.

Yesterday:

“It does not deal in any way, shape or form with family planning,” Mr. Cannon said about the initiative when he met with the committee. “Indeed, the purpose of this is to be able to save lives.”

Today:

“The government’s position is clear,” the Prime Minister said. “I think the minister responded – the government is seeking to get the G8 countries to act to save lives, mothers and children, throughout the world.

“We are not closing doors against any options including contraception. But we do not want a debate here or elsewhere on abortion.”

Gee, what do you think prompted Stevie Peevie to 'clarify' something that was perfectly clear out of the mouths of Bev Odious and Lawrence LooseCannon?

The fact that this idiocy would have made Canada look like a buffoon among G8 members?

Maybe the political drubbing the notion was attracting?

Or maybe the spanking it took in today's NattyPo, of all places?

Ah, I've got it. Harper doesn't want to be associated with this guy.

Because, you know, some wag with PhotoShop skills (hint hint) might do this to a photo of Harpo.

Gastropods Unite!

Go read Dr Dawg. He's on top of current events in the House of Commons. Her Majesty's loyal Opposition has roused itself from a 14 week slumber (okay, part of that was Stevie Peevie's Prorogation delay tactic). The speaker must respond to the question: Shall Parliamentary supremacy be upheld?

And also: Kady O'Malley updates directly from the warzone.

Oh and could someone run over to the Manning Centre for the Subversion Study of Democracy or whatever it's called to poke Captain Canada Stephen Taylor? I hear today's lunch in the cafeteria is the Gastropods All-you-can-eat Buffet; it seems that Taylor is known for a trademark thrust-and-parry with his snail fork. He might want to know what's happening in Parliament instead of waiting for the Coles Notes version from Dimitri Soudas.

- / - / -

fern hill piles on: W00t!!!!!!!11 I was watching at Kady's and the CAPP Facebook wall.

If you're feeling a little euphoric -- as I am -- by this stunning display of backbone on the part of the Opposition, now might be a good time to celebrate by sending some money to the totally grassroots group Canadians Rallying to Unseat Stephen Harper, or CRUSH, here.

One of the organizers just wrote on the CAPP wall:

This Saturday, in the Insight section of the Toronto Star, our ad will appear. It is the largest ad we could afford in the largest circulated paper....

Without all your faith and support this ad would not have happened. Your kind words in your messages are touching and give us more energy. The first small battle has been won but the war is far from over. We can do this...together.

As one donor wrote to Billy Nobels, "I cannot trust my government but I am trusting a complete stranger with my $20.00 donation".

Reject the Iacobucci Gambit!

It appears that the Opposition is folding.

I just wrote to my MP. Again.

Under the same title as here:

Dear Olivia,
Please, please, don't let this stand.

The NDP must force the contempt of Parliament issue.

Harper is trampling democracy in this country and the bloody Opposition -- and that includes the NDP -- are allowing it.

I despair.


Yours truly,
fern hill

UPDATE: Write, phone, fax The Hon. Frank Iacobucci, from here.

Phone: (direct) 416.865.8217
Fax: 416.865.7380

Email: fiacobucci (at) torys.com

Mail:
79 Wellington Street West, Suite 3000
Box 270, TD Centre
Toronto, Ontario, M5K 1N2 Canada

h/t Elizabeth Pickett at Facebook

CAPP's New Purpose

CAPP, Canadians Against Parliamentary Proroguing, is repurposing. With prorogation just about over, the group has become Canadians Advocating Political Participation, which keeps the original acronym, but I learned today, shares it with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. Oh well.

Here's the launch video.



Christopher White, founder of the original CAPP Facebook page, appeared at the Liberal roundtable today on parliamentary democracy, which was live-blogged by Kady.

One more thing. I won't repeat myself about what a fascinating experiment in new media organizing and activism this is, yadayada. But, if you're in the mood to play, it's time for the Money Test, aka, The Will This Be Taken Seriously? Test.

Yo! MSM -- Try This: No Questions, No Pix!

In Haiti, loathesome jingoism and relentless politicking.

He went on to address his critics, saying some of them had argued against purchasing those cargo planes as inconsistent with Canada's "soft-power needs." Harper said, however, that his government bought them "for the hard-power requirements of today's world."

Military analysts agreed the new C-17s played a key role in the speedy Haiti deployment.

But one interviewed by The Canadian Press described most of the Harper government's so-called "hard-power" purchases - like tanks for Afghanistan - as irrelevant to a mission like Haiti. At least one other purchase nixed by Harper's government, a supply ship, could have been especially useful to those aid efforts.

Ker-rist, I want this goon -- and his ugly mug -- out of our public life.

Tell the spineless MSM: No questions, no pix!

Oh. Look. Another Shiny Desperate Thing

Totally despicable photo-opportunism.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who has made relief and reconstruction for Haiti a major cause for his government, will travel to the earthquake-ravaged nation on Monday to see the recovery efforts firsthand.

I sooooooo want this goon gone.

If you agree, put your chequebook where your heart and mind are.

And if the MSM had any integrity, they'd ignore it.

Yeah. I know. Fat chance.

You Knew This Was Coming

(mock-up of the proposed ad)


A CAPP offshoot group, C.R.U.S.H. - Canadians Rallying to Unseat Stephen Harper, has been created.

A group for concerned Canadians who are committed to exercising their democratic right to unseat Stephen Harper through a general election.

"When a government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid dissent is frankly when it's rapidly losing its moral authority to govern.” - Stephen Harper, 18 April 2005"

Here is the story behind it.

Ted Chartrand wrote:
Joe Klebanoff asked some questions in a post below that deserve answers and I will attempt to provide more information on behalf of the group that organized this facebook group.

This group was the "brain child" of seven active members on CAPP that felt a focus needed to be brought to the next logical step in our dissatisfaction with the Harper government and that the next logical progression was an election so that the people of Canada could have their voices heard. Bear in mind, that this group was formed only 48 hours ago.

It was immediately seen that the objective of forcing an election needed to be taken outside the realm of simply a facebook group and out to the Canadian population. Two short term actions were identified:

1. An ad in Canada’s three major dailies: The National Post, Globe & Mail and Le Devoir. The focus of the ad would be the need for a general election. This will reach a large number of Canadians that are outside the “internet” world.

2. A national rally day (March 7) to foster active engagement by Canadians at large. The March 7 date was chosen as it will follow the delivery of the Throne Speech and budget but will be in advance of the budget debate and the first opportunity for a non-confidence vote.

Within these 48 hours since the facebook group’s creation, a team of 7 people have worked to create an appropriate ad and to negotiate with all of the named newspapers regarding rates. Others have examined various fundraising options and continue to do so. Both these tasks are nearing completion and will be posted on the facebook group page within the next day or so. While it is always preferable to have involvement of the many rather than the few, we are in a time crunch on this and must move quickly to take advantage of this small window of opportunity. Members of the organizing committee are also meeting with a number of local chapters to gain their support and involvement. This is a considerable amount that has been accomplished in less than 48 hours.

Regarding the use of a pseudonym, no one person alone was responsible for the idea for this facebook group, so, we melded our personae into Liberty Freeman, representing all of us. I am one member of that organizing committee. Increasing amounts of detail will be posted on the group facebook page in the coming days.

OK. Now they need the dough to run the ad. They are in the process of setting up the mechanics for that and need a volunteer lawyer or accountant.

Can you help?

CAPPers: This is your mission. . .

Should you choose to accept.

The wonderfully creative, grassroots, and multi-partisan people at CAPP have another fun project in the works.

On January 23, 2010, we showed up in tens of thousands in over 60 communities in Canada.

This time, we'll show up with even more.

On March 2, 2010, the last day of prorogation, Mr. Harper will be under the impression that we've all forgotten about his evildoing. Care to show him that not only do we still remember...that not only are we still ANGRY...but that WE WILL NEVER FORGET!

Ladies and Gentlemen...our mission for now shall remain a secret. The element of surprise is in our favour. They will never see it coming.

For now, consider this to be the secret headquarters for those Canadians who still have not forgotten.

Every Monday leading up to March 2, a clue will be revealed as to what our mission will be. For now, recruit your friends, your Facebook acquaintances and Groups, your family...everyone you know.

THIS IS A MISSION THAT WILL GO DOWN IN CANADIAN HISTORY.

DISCLAIMER: We do NOT condone violence. Bug the crap out of anyone who chooses to ignore that and message the admin ASAP.

The first clue has just been revealed.

And there's still time to send a Valentine to Stevie.

We got 'em on the run!

Yesterday, local CAPPers confronted Tony (aka Tony Cashmere) Clement at York University. It was twittered but not widely reported otherwise.

Today, Saskatoon CAPPers forced Tony C. to slink out the back way and then put out a press release about it, on Facebook of course. (emphasis mine)

More than a dozen members of the Saskatoon Chapter of Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament attended a flash rally outside the Radisson Hotel in downtown Saskatoon between 11:30am and Noon today. The group marched back and forth along the sidewalk bringing their message to members of the Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce who were attending a luncheon with Minister Tony Clement at the Radisson.

"We want to keep the pressure on until Parliament resumes and the Harper government is held accountable to Canadians and a working democracy," said Mary Jean Hande a participant at today's Flash Rally.

Chants of “Pro-democracy not prorogue,” “You can prorogue but you can’t hide,” and “This is what democracy looks like” echoed through the buildings in Saskatoon’s downtown core. Minister Clement escaped the scrutiny of the demonstrators by slipping in the back door of the hotel and staff at the hotel barred entry to the demonstrators who wished to bring their concerns to the Industry Minister.

"Our group braved -30 Degree wind chills to bring a message to Minister of Industry Tony Clement that the abuse of Canada’s democratic institutions for political reasons is not acceptable," said Flash Rally participant Peter Garden. "We are urging other chapters of Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament and any concerned Canadians to monitor public appearances of the Harper government, Cabinet Ministers and other MPs, and then publicly confront them on the prorogation of parliament and the attacks on democratic institutions."

The flash rally follows the mobilization of more than 25,000 Canadians in over 60 communities, including over 450 people in Saskatoon, on January 23 against what many Canadians see as the erosion of Canada’s democratic institutions under the Harper government. The leaderless, grassroots, national group, Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament (CAPP), has vowed to continue the pressure on the Harper government to return to work and be accountable to the Canadian electorate.

CAPPers are planning other flash rallies.

They're turning up at constituency offices trying to ask questions.

They 're holding constituency office vigils.

And the best part -- all that photo-op grandstanding on Haiti seems not to have done the ReformaTories any good, according to the latest poll.

Membership is still growing at Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament. A few minutes ago, it stood at 219,133.

I'm having too much fun!

CAPP Rally -- Toronto

That was a blast! (And a huge relief. . .) People are still arguing about the numbers, but who cares?

There were lots and lots of people out in Toronto. All kinds of people -- babies in strollers, toddlers on adults' shoulders, high-school and university students, middle-aged and up to quite antique. And while anyone would have to admit that the ethnic diversity did not reflect the average subway car in rush-hour, I'd say that all members of the human family were represented.

The NDP and Greens were there with banners, as were a number of unions. The NDP had printed signs that said on one side 'Democracy Works' and on the other 'Stand Up to Harper'. They were NDP orange and had the logo at the bottom of one side. I noticed that some people holding up the signs had torn a small rectangle out of the bottom and realized that they objected to the NDP logo and had removed it but were still waving the signs around.

I have no problem with political parties supporting our cause and helping by paying for signs. I carried one.

But the handmade signs were really fabulous and the best one -- actually I saw two instances of it -- was impromptu as well as handmade.

This being Toronto of course there were mounted police and when you have mounted police, you have, of course, horseshit to step around on the march. Marchers were pretty good about alerting followers when such was the case.

At one point, though, not only were people diverting around something, they were laughing their asses off and taking pictures. I didn't bring a camera and wanted to share this, so I put out a request on the Toronto Rally Facebook page and got an immediate reply from photographer Mathew Rossi, who then kindly gave me permission to post it here.




The original Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament group is still growing. It hit 214,000 members this morning.

And people want to continue the energy and organizing. There's now a What's Next (that's not the correct name) group. Building on the success of yesterday, it's booming in numbers too.

Omen from Oman

Sarah MacDonald in Oman kicks off today's Democracy Rallies. More of her pictures here.

Find your local rally here.

And, there are many stories in the news this morning about the planned rallies and the Facebook phenom. I liked this one -- it mentions bloggers too.

Dang!!!!!

I missed it by 1.

Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament.

Now, to get boots on the ground. Find your rally here.

No Prorogue! Sunday Afternoon Version

Christopher White, founder of the Facebook group Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament just posted this clip on the wall with this comment:

We need a politician who can do this:

OK, it's sappy, but I have a thing for men in skirts.

Membership stands now at more than 198,600. Sure would be nice to get to 200,000 for the Monday Morning Peanut Pundit Gallery.

Here's the link to find about next next Saturday's rallies. By my count, 49 communities are planning events.

And while we're on the topic, Question Period's poll last week was on whether Harpie should have prorogued Parliament. Answer: 84% said NO.

This week's question:

Will the government's handling of the Haitian crisis blunt the anger over prorogation?

You know what to do.

I Still Feel Pretty

Though how he could after this, I can't imagine.

My all-time fave foto of Dear Leader, looking soooo prime ministerial.

(This is deBeauxOs's fault. This post of hers gave me an ear-worm that only this photo could cure.)

No Prorogue! Thursday Round-up

Polls, polls, polls. Good grief, they even got me today. For the first time in my life, I was called by a political polling company. Ekos robo-called me and asked do I think the country is going in the right direction and which party would I vote for if elections were held tomorrow, both federal and provincial. Then a bunch of demographic questions. It was all very straightforward, no clues as to who is paying for it.

(Question for poll-geeks: Robo also asked: 'Of the people in your household, are you the one with the most recent birthday?' WTF are they going for there?)

Here Susan Delacourt blogs on recent polls (emphasis mine).

Ekos weighs in today with its findings, showing that yesterday's Strategic Counsel poll is no rogue poll. The two surveys are showing that the Conservatives are being punished in public-opinion terms for the shutdown of Parliament.

Journalists had been expecting this, because of a less-scientific survey method, based on comments to blogs and websites over the last week or so. The simple science is this: the nastier and more juvenile the comments, the more trouble the Conservatives are probably facing. In my occasional role here as comments moderator, I've realized that the appearance of certain lines of attack (some of them unpublishable) are a sure sign of panic. It's like that old rule of political reporting -- if a politician or a flak says to you "that's not a story," it probably is. And if critics are going to ferocious and personal lengths to tell you that no one cares about Parliament being shut down, well, you can probably figure that people do care. So keep those cards and letters coming -- by their shrillness, they will be measured.

Must be fun to call somebody -- not a woman, not a feminist -- shrill.

In related news, we reported back here on our gobsmackedness over sharing a revulsion over the prorogation with Connie Fournier of Free Dominion.

She started another thread on Janaury 8, titled 'Someone tell the CPC to stop it . . . it's embarrassing'.

She's referring to the pro-prorogue Facebook group.

I went to look at the facebook group called |I SUPPORT the Prorogation of Parliament and the Prime Minister of Canada", and it is really embarrassing.

First of all, the group has barely 500 members (compared to the 'anti' group which has around 100,000). But, a quick search of the members of the group shows that many of the members are not even real people. A lot of them have no friends, or they are just friends with one other person (usually another member of the group). They are simply shell characters that have nothing in their profiles but a bunch of groups they have joined.

I don't mean any disrespect to any of you who have joined this group because I know that some of my friends are, in fact, members.

But, the organizer of the group is obviously a fake identity being used by someone affiliated with the CPC, and they are doing such an amateurish job that they are probably hurting the cause more than they are helping it.

If they are going to hire someone to do social networking for them, they should hire someone who has a clue what they are doing. d'oh!

On January 13, she posted:

Today is it called: "I SUPPORT the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper".

They must have decided that having "prorogation" in the group title wasn't doing the trick.

They have 843 members now. I wonder if the name change will help them catch up with the "No" group. They've narrowed the gap to less than 182,000 now, anyway.

Go, Steve, go! Laughing

(Big City Lib is also amused by this.)

So, as a very newbie Facebook user, I was fooling around today and got into searching for friends and entered 'Connie Fournier'. Got her. Sent her a message. Something like: I saw how angry you are about the prorogation at FD, why doncha join the group?

She replied: *big grin* I joined several days ago.

My reply: Cool. Is this public knowledge?

Her: Yes. I put a banner for the No Prorogue site up at FD, which, by the way, is the easiest way to find out about rallies in your city/town.

High fives all round. Non-partisanship to the max!



In other other related news, membership growth is slowing at Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament, so it's time to bug your friends and relations again.

And finally, everyone should bookmark this excellent piece of work by Thor at Driving the Porcelain Bus on the many, many crimes against democracy, accountability, transparency, and decency by the ReformaTories. Thank you, Thor.

Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament: Tuesday Afternoon Update

Oy. I shouldn't be doing this, but I am again transfixed by the numbers at the Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament Facebook group.

People are joining at the rate of about 10 per minute. Yes, you read that right -- 10 per minute. The total just topped 171,000.

And the French language group just hit a milestone too. Les Canadiens contre la prorogation du Parlement! is over 1,000 now.

And a couple of clever people have started discussions asking members' age and more more general demographics such as province, voting history, etc. These are meant to forestall any dismissal of the group as a bunch of kids or from a particular part of the country. They are all ages, from everywhere.

It's exhilarating. Everyone seems to feel it.

If you don't want to risk getting sucked in, hop over to Canadian Cynic every once in a while. He's taking screen shots as the group marks what's he's calling 'another useless Facebook milestone'. (And he hits the round numbers, like 170,000. How does he do that?)

In any event, mark your calendars -- January 23 is the day. If the enthusiasm from the Facebook group continues, it's going a helluva good time.

Woohoo! 150,000!

Boy, did I call it wrong here. I predicted that the Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament Facebook group would hit 150,000 members by noon today.

It just blew by 150,000 and stands at over 150,400 now.

One of the discussions -- well it's not really -- asks people their age. All ages are represented, but it seems to me that most are over 40. These are voters -- real, live, breathing, committed, pissed-off voters.

No Prorogue! SUNDAY (Evening) UPDATE

Membership in the Facebook group Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament now stands at 137,347 -- more than 10,000 more than the Reformatories' much vaunted anti-coalition Facebook group. It was -- repeat, was -- the largest ever Canadian Facebook group. Now CAPP holds that record.

This is quite an amazing spectacle as commenters keep adding links to stories about Harper and his puppets' complete disdain for democracy and Canadian values.

I was resistant to the idea of joining Facebook (and I've been getting snarked by internet pals now that I've relented) and I doubt I'll do anything with my account after this is over, but seriously, this really may be the beginning of something MASSIVE.

If you don't belong to Facebook, consider joining. At least, check out the wall.

And if any of your friends need further convincing, send them a link to this excellent column, Prorogation redux: Harper in contempt of Parliament, by Errol P. Mendes, professor of constitutional law.

A taste:

The highest duty of a Prime Minister of Parliament is to uphold the Constitution of Canada, which includes the rights and privileges of the House of Commons and the duties owed to the Queen's representative in Canada. Stephen Harper keeps on failing in his duties on both counts as evidenced by the second prorogation of Parliament on Dec. 30.

ADDED: Susan Delacourt on Popular protest.

UPDATE at 1:10 p.m. EST: Just blew past 139,000!

UPDATE at 2:30 p.m. EST: 140,000.

UPDATE at 4:30ish p.m.: 141,376.

UPDATE at nearly 8:00 p.m.: Over 144,000. Taking bets here. When does it hit 150,000? I'm taking noon tomorrow. Jump into the pool.

No Prorogue! SATURDAY A.M. UPDATE

Great. I've got a new addiction. Watching the membership numbers zoom on the Facebook group Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament.

There are more than 125,000 now and the total went up by 40 in the time it took for me to copy the link, a quote, and to refresh the page.

And the group is getting even more ambitious. Laura Smith said:

We hit a new mildstone 125,000!!!!! keep it going we need 350,000 (1% of the population)

(I'm pretty sure she meant 'milestone', but if the numbers keep going like this, 125,000 may look 'mild' in comparison.)

Meanwhile, over at the group formed in support of the suspension of democracy in Canada now -- oh, wait, I'd better check. It was 565 when I was there about two hours ago.

Ah. Good thing I checked. It's up to 567 now.

Wow. That's almost three times the number of people who attended the Toronto Planning Meeting last night. One of the organizers said there were 200 people there.

Someone who was there describes it.

Pat Tanzola wrote
at 8:05pm yesterday
The meeting was packed, and had to be moved to a larger room. About 150-200 people I'd say, all shapes, sizes, ages and colour. An amazing blend of old and young. It was a bit hard to establish order, because it was thrown together so fast, but I give the organizers full credit - way to go guys. There were various subcomittees set up to help plan the various aspects of Jan 23. Just want to say that I'm not a partisan or a troll and I've never even been to a rally planning meeting before. But there was a lot of people ready to take action! They were already taking donations to help defray costs of the rally, and people were stuffing their change and small bills into a hastily constructed donations box. Pretty neat!

Pretty neat, indeed.

12:30 p.m. EST: 126,000!

UPDATE: 1:25 p.m. EST: WOOHOO! Magic number 126,870 -- number of members of old anti-Coalition Facebook group's-- surpassed! Now 126,889.

4:10 p.m. UPDATE: Well on the way to 130,000 very soon -- at the moment: 129,323.

8:56 p.m. UPDATE: 133,102.

No Prorogue! UPDATE

When I joined the No Prorogue Facebook group late this morning, there were about 105,000 members. Just now, at 4:52 p.m. EST, there were 112,372!

One of the commenters said it's growing by 1,000 members an hour!

In related news, even Andrew Coyne is impressed and backs off, sorta, from his shitty little column of a couple of days ago, calling Canadians apathetic.

MORE UPPITY-DATE: It's more like 1,500 an hour. Just about 2 hours later, count stands at 115,129. Wow.

EVEN MORE: At about 10:20, pushing 119,000. Also a poll at CBC asking what we want them to ask politicians. I was torn between 1 and 5, but in the spirit of the day, went with 5.

AND EVEN MORE: Now (11:10 p.m. EST) nearing 120,000. And I liked this comment

Erik Snyder I don't know of any governmental body making such a big deal about the Olympics since, well...1937.

OK, well, I'm kinda into a Leni Riefenstahl mood.