ASIC Photo Blog | Jan 23rd 2010 Canada-wide Rally

Jan 20, 2010 - Jan 23rd 2010 Canada-wide Rally - Canadians Unite for Democracy

Hi all. This is a message I sent to my own family, and figured it was worthy of sharing on my non-partisan bird & photo blogs :)

I know there are varying degrees of interest in this, and just based on my own family I'm in a dismal minority if I'm the only one involving myself in this, but I want to share anyways, please give the below a read and thought.

You know I don't normally "do" politics, nor do I send out chainmails or info about joining this or that group, but this is important. Passing along info to others is just one way to get this conversation going.

Without siding with any political party I think the "CAPP" facebook group has opened a new, significant conversation with our politicians. What Harper thought he could get away with is being strongly objected to by people of all ages and political loyalties. Over 40 Canadian cities, large & small, plus Westminster England, New York City, and Texas are protesting this Saturday.

It's not about 3 weeks vacation, it's about accountability, democracy, and calling the PM out on his claim that we don't care about anything other than the economy, and making it clear that refusing to provide documents regarding Afghan detainee torture actually is “on the radar of Canadians”.

It's about stopping proroguing of parliament from being used when embarassing/criminal problems arise for our PM. He is clearly documented for strong-arming his MPs, he defies court orders, and he misuses rules to serve himself when he's supposed to represent us.

I've spoken to many folks who don't think we can change how things are. There's now 205,000 people on facebook alone that beg to differ. Mothers, veterans, seniors and students, Liberals, Conservatives, NDPers and Greenies, who together think democracy is important enough to stand up for. Simply joining a Facebook group doesn’t mean a thing unless people get out into the real world and do something. I've written MPs, helped share press releases with the media, and am otherwise just doing what I can.

I don't expect you to go rally Saturday (though it would be cool if you did), and I know rallying isn’t for everyone, but at the very least, be aware of why thousands of your fellow Canadians are so angry and why we can't accept the abuse of our democratic system.

Here are a few links. There are thousands out there if you want to read more, I just picked a few, the "Coles Notes" version.

Watch the following video about Sat Jan 23rd. You won’t see it on TV, but it's one of many made by proud Canadians and worth watching:

Video: Get Back to Work (YouTube)

Take a look here, a central site created by one gent to help share info and organize rallies in all the participating cities, plus press releases being sent to the media. Find a rally in your city!

www.noprorogue.ca – check out the right column for cities that have signed on to rally.

Here’s Richard Colvin’s testimony regarding Afghan detainees. He’s since been dragged through the mud and Harper’s government has refused to turn over documents relating to this case.

Richard Colvin testimony Part 2

And lastly, check out or even join this facebook group. It’s an amazing group to follow, loaded with eye-opening information from media sources across Canada and around the world, and definitely the first time I’ve felt a Facebook group was worth joining. It's not joining that makes the difference, it's what we do once we have.

Canadians Against Proroguing of Parliament

I know there’s a debate over whether or not all the noise created by the "Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament" group will amount to anything. I believe it will, and I’m very proud and excited to be a part of it. On Saturday Jan 23rd at 1PM I will be at Dundas Square in Toronto with thousands of others, doing my part instead of being content to accept things as they are. Don’t worry, I’ll take pictures for the blog…

Thanks for hearing me out!
Mathew