Inspirational and good news.
Today is election day in Canada and it’s a chance for Canadians to bring change to who runs the country. The hopefully soon to be ousted government has based laws which the courts say “constitutes cruel and unusual treatment“. The Conservative party has got to go.
Here’s John Oliver’s take on the sad state of Canadian federal politics.
You want to make Canada a good place? Go vote for change!
If you can vote in the Canadian election, you should.
Rick Mercer, who has a great reputation of mocking Canadian politicians, has called every Canadian to vote this coming election on Monday October 19th. For too long this country has suffered under climate change deniers and people’s who only care about not letting certain people work in the civil service because of their garb.
Tell everyone that you are voting and go participate in change this Monday. You can share that you are voting using Vote Nation, check out why:
Voting is contagious — we know this. If you tell your friends and family you’re voting, they’re more likely to vote too. Vote loud, vote proud. Let everyone know that you will be voting on October 19. Create an ‘I Will Vote’ profile pic.
On Monday the 19th Canadians will cast their ballots for who they think should run the nation. Open Media has released a report card on where the political parties stand on digital issues impacting Canadians. It’s with no surprise that the conservatives get a failing grade. The good news is that every other party support online freedoms.
Don’t want the Canadian government reading your email and watching what you do online? Vote them out this election.
We have assessed the main parties on the digital policy issues Canadians told us matter most. The grades below are a crowdsourced assessment by your OpenMedia team based on these criteria.
Although we don’t endorse any party, we work on these issues every day and want to make sure you can cast an informed vote based on what matters to you.
Polling opens for the Canadian election on October 9th with the final day to vote on the 19th. This election, the organization Evidence for Democracy (and many more!) are asking you to vote with science in mind.
The Canadian Conservative party blatantly ignores scientific facts in their policies and this has led to some horrible practices in Canada. The good news is that you can change that this October by voting for knowledge, look into the Science Integrity Project
Our project reflects the collective wisdom of 75 leaders — in science, indigenous knowledge, public policy, civil society, and governance — who are concerned about the erosion of an evidence-based approach to public policy decision-making in Canada.
Why SIP:
The Science Integrity Project was created in response to growing concerns [1] that many public policy decisions made in Canada — and in its cities, provinces and territories — are not consistently supported by solid information derived from the best available evidence — from science and indigenous knowledge.
What is SIP:
Through a series of in-depth interviews and a national forum, we developed principles for improved decision making on the basis of the best available evidence.
Canada has been destroying it’s own environment (and trashing international environmental policy) for way too long. As a result of this ignorant neglect a bunch of prominent Canadians have produced the Leap Manifesto.
And it’s good. Really good.
Here’s just a snippet of the Leap Manifesto:
A leap to a non-polluting economy creates countless openings for similar multiple “wins.†We want a universal program to build energy efficient homes, and retrofit existing housing, ensuring that the lowest income communities and neighbourhoods will benefit first and receive job training and opportunities that reduce poverty over the long term. We want training and other resources for workers in carbon-intensive jobs, ensuring they are fully able to take part in the clean energy economy. This transition should involve the democratic participation of workers themselves. High-speed rail powered by just renewables and affordable public transit can unite every community in this country – in place of more cars, pipelines and exploding trains that endanger and divide us.
And since we know this leap is beginning late, we need to invest in our decaying public infrastructure so that it can withstand increasingly frequent extreme weather events.
Moving to a far more localized and ecologically-based agricultural system would reduce reliance on fossil fuels, capture carbon in the soil, and absorb sudden shocks in the global supply – as well as produce healthier and more affordable food for everyone.
The Leap Manifesto has gotten international attention too because of the upcoming Canadian federal election.
A powerful movement in Canada, animated by a compelling and positive vision for the climate and economy, can force the hand of whichever government comes to power in October. Even if the entire political class has forgotten this, Canadians haven’t.