Harper doesn't want Canadians to know. We'r
- Details
- Published on Sunday, 14 September 2014 23:00
- Written by editor
The Harper Conservatives just ratified the secretive and extreme China-Canada FIPA investors' deal.
Harper wants to hide this terrible decision from Canadians, but with your help we can blanket key vulnerable Conservative ridings with radio and newspaper ads to make sure voters hear about this, and Harper pays a steep price in the 2015 election.
Nobody expected this today. It’s now confirmed that out of the blue, the Harper Conservatives have just ratified the secretive and extreme China-Canada FIPA, a move that threatens to lock our democracy into a binding investors’ deal for at least 31 years.[1]Harper is trying to sneak this under the radar – making a quiet announcement on a Friday afternoon – because he knows FIPA is deeply unpopular with people across the country, including his own MPs, Conservative donors, and swing voters he needs in the 2015 election.
Canadians deserve to know, and if Harper won’t tell them, we will.
While we work with partners to review the legal options, we want to make sure key voters know that the Harper Conservatives ratified FIPA behind our backs, and set the stage to make Harper pay at the ballot box in the next election.
Radio ads are one of the fastest ways to get information out to the people Harper cares about most - his political base and the swing voters he’s trying to keep in the dark.
Help us make sure that voters from coast to coast to coast know that Harper just put China’s corporate profits ahead of your democratic and economic rights. Please chip in $20 now to help fund our hard-hitting radio ads.
Here’s the plan:
- Just $20 can buy one radio ad spot in a Conservative MP’s home riding. $100 can buy five. The more we raise, the more impact we’ll have.
- If we can raise $20,000, we can saturate the airwaves in the battleground ridings that could cost Harper the election.
- If we raise $60,000, we’ll take out full page ads in community newspapers, to spread the word to voters in dozens of key ridings between now and the 2015 election.
With other investor deals like CETA and the TPP threatening to expose Canadian governments to similar risks, and with the campaign for the 2015 election unofficially underway, we need your help to fight back hard, right now.
Please donate $20 or more now to help fund radio ads to spreads the news deep in vulnerable Conservative ridings, making sure swing voters know what Harper’s done.
In October 2012, just days before Harper was expected to ratify FIPA, we asked you to chip in to blanket the airwaves in Conservative swing ridings. The response was overwhelming, and it worked better than we’d possibly imagined - cracks in the Conservative caucus exploded in national media[3], and Harper's momentum was stopped in its tracks.
Now, nearly two years later, Harper is trying to sneak FIPA under the radar by dumping the news on a Friday afternoon. His actions show us that he knows it’s politically toxic.
Let’s send a powerful message to the people who will help determine the outcome of the 2015 federal election. Chip in $20 or more now to fund a radio ad to get out the word to swing voters in vulnerable Conservative ridings.
Thanks for all you do.
With hope and respect,
Matthew, Kelly, Maggie, Jamie, and the whole Leadnow.ca team
P.S. We don’t yet know what this decision means for the Hupacasath First Nation’s legal case. The Hupacasath have been using their constitutionally protected legal rights to challenge this deal in court. The court case is still in progress, and the court has not yet released its decision on the Hupacasath’s appeal.[4] By ratifying FIPA today, the Harper Conservatives have shown extraordinary disrespect for the rights of First Nations in Canada, and for the judicial branch of our government.
P.P.S. Thank you so much to everyone who picked up the phones today to call MPs and cabinet members after we heard FIPA might get ratified. We were as shocked as you by Harper sneaking this through with no notice. Our response as a community was huge - we sprung into action, rang their phones off the hooks, and filled up cabinet members’ voicemails. Now, let’s channel our energy into making sure Canadians hear about this terrible decision. If you can donate, please do, as every dollar helps. If you can’t, please help by passing this on.
P.P.P.S. If you prefer to donate by cheque, please send your cheque payable to "Leadnow" to:
Leadnow.ca
PO Box 2091, Stn Terminal
Vancouver, BC
V6B 3T2
Please include a note with your cheque, so we know who it's from.
To donate by phone you can call us toll-free at 1‑855‑LEADN0W (1‑855‑532‑3609) ext 2.
Sources
[1] Canada ratifies investment deal with China despite misgivings (Canadian Press)
http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/canada-ratifies-investment-deal-with-china-despite-misgivings-1.2004295
[2] For more background information, see Leadnow’s campaign to stop the Canada-China FIPA
http://www.leadnow.ca/stop-fipa/
[3] China-Canada trade ties stall over cabinet divisions. Critics fear Canada getting cold feet over risk posed by cyber espionage. (CBC)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/china-canada-trade-ties-stall-over-cabinet-divisions-1.2611129
[4] Hupacasath Back in Court for Canada/China FIPA Appeal
http://www.hashilthsa.com/news/2014-06-11/hupacasath-back-court-canadachina-fipa-appeal
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