[Fresh Ink] Fw: Campaign for a coalition government; Letter sent to Opposition Members

[Richard Menec]

Please forward this letter to everyone you think would be sympathetic.
Suggest using "Bcc" to avoid address clutter.

Many,  many thanks to Murray Dobbin for initiating the action and supplying
the information.

His letter to Members-of-Parliament (below) is excellent.


CONTENTS
(1)  MURRAY?S INPUT
A.  PREAMBLE
B.  TEMPLATE LETTER
C.  EMAIL ADDRESSES FOR THE OPPOSITION MP?S  (with corrected
addresses)

--------------------


(1)  MURRAY?S INPUT

A.  PREAMBLE

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Murray Dobbin
Sent: Sunday, November 09, 2008 6:39 PM
Subject: [coc-chaps-l] Campaign for a coalition government

Campaign for a coalition government

Dear friends:

Canada can simply not afford to have a Stephen Harper government for another
two or three years until the next election - called by him of course, in
violation of his own law. If we are serious about defending what remains of
the country we must demand of the opposition parties that they defeat this
unrepresentative and reactionary government as soon as is practicable. They
must then go to the Governor General with a written agreement detailing how
they plan to govern as a Liberal minority government based on a clear accord
involving the Bloc and the NDP.

Any other course of action will be disastrous for the country. On November
5, one of Harper's spokespersons stated that they will introduce their youth
crime bill and treat it as a "confidence" matter. That means a 'no' vote
would trigger an election.  In other words, they will again run roughshod
over Parliamentary democratic tradition and treat opposition parties and the
62% of Canadians who voted against them, with the same contempt as they did
in the last Parliament.

This cannot be allowed to happen and we must tell the opposition parties and
their MPs to put aside their partisan interests and save the country.

Timing is extremely important in this project. If the Harper Conservatives
are defeated early enough in their new mandate, (ideally by this spring, at
the latest next fall) the Governor General would be bound by tradition to
give the opposition parties an opportunity to govern if they presented
themselves with a clear accord and a legislative agenda.  The first
opportunity is the vote on the Speech from the Throne - the government's
statement of its policy agenda and intentions.

I should point out that there are many people pushing for such a
coalition/accord. It is an idea whose time has come - so obvious that the
idea pops up in dozens of independent places at once. Lloyd Axworthy, former
Liberal cabinet minister, recent wrote an op ed [http://tinyurl.com/5akdnc]
on the topic. Others, including Judy Rebick, called for it even before the
election was over.

There are two things people can do to advance this project which I hope will
become an irresistible movement.

 1) Send a letter to all opposition MPs urging them to form such a coalition
or come to an accord to defeat Harper and replace his government.

If you are short of time, I have composed a letter intended to go to all
opposition party MPs - NDP, Liberal and Bloc (see below). Feel free to
simply send this letter. I have also included (attached and pasted in below)
the email addresses of all the opposition MPs. Most email programs will
allow you to copy and paste the addresses into the ?To? box and send them
all at once.

2) A group of activists has set up a web site and petition calling for a
coalition government - and it also is seeking volunteers to establish action
groups in as many opposition party ridings as possible. They are asking
people to lobby their own individual MPs and provide the necessary
information. They need your help.  Find them at:
http://www.progressivecoalition.ca/

Please support this initiative by sending the letter, visiting the web site
and by forwarding this to your lists, putting it on your blog or web site or
by any other means you can think of.  If a million Canadians wrote, phoned
or emailed opposition MPs we could realistically see the end of this
offensive government by the spring.

Cheers, Murray Dobbin

=======================

B.  TEMPLATE LETTER

Dear Opposition Member of Parliament:

In the federal election just passed the majority of Canadians rejected the
Harper Conservatives and their mean-spirited, anti-government agenda. If
elections can be seen as referenda on the record of incumbent governments
then in this instance sixty two per cent of Canadians voted against the
Harper government and declared it wanting. Yet, to the great frustration of
millions of Canadians, the country woke up the morning after the election
with the same, unpopular politician and party with holding the reigns of
power.

This is not what democracy should look like. It is not a coincidence that
voter turn out, at just over 59 per cent, was the lowest in our country's
history.  Millions of Canadians see no point in voting because they knew the
outcome ahead of time: another minority Harper government which arrogates to
itself the status of a majority government. In contempt of Parliamentary
tradition the Harper government makes every vote a question of confidence,
daring the opposition to force another election on the people of Canada.

I am writing to urge all of you to put an end to this illegitimate
government and co-operate amongst yourselves to form a government based on
the considerable overlap of progressive policies between your party
platforms.

There are any number of policy areas where we know you can work together for
the good of the nation, for example: a program to stimulate the economy by
way of rapid acceleration of infrastructure programs; a comprehensive
climate change strategy based on our signing of Kyoto; energy security; a
national childcare program; the revival of the Kelowna accord; an honourable
withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan and a new initiative at the UN to
address the crisis there; tackling the appalling level of poverty in Canada;
and the development of a long-term industrial policy for Canada aimed at
building an environmentally sustainable, high-wage economy; and lastly, a
fair-tax policy which recognizes the necessity of a progressive system to
meet the need for a robust federal revenue stream to rebuild the country..

I urge you, with the many others who are writing to you, to put aside your
partisan interests and feelings for the good of the country. I know that
this will not be easy for you have just come through a hard-fought election
that may have left you angry and defensive about your party's positions and
electoral showing.

But this wonderful country of ours simply cannot afford another two and half
years of Stephen Harper. Indeed, we cannot afford another two and a half
months. As for your partisan commitment - please just put it on hold for
now. The vast majority of Canadians, unfortunately perhaps, are not members
of political parties and care little about partisanship.

They want their country back.

Together as MPs you represent nearly two thirds of Canadians.  We ask you,
as fellow Canadians, Parliamentarians, and representatives of your
communities, to defeat this illegitimate government and present yourselves
to the Governor General as an alternative government. We urge you to do so
as soon as possible - preferably in the vote on the Speech from the Throne
but if that is not possible on any important piece of legislation that
offends the majority of Canadians.

We are counting on you to do the right thing.

Sincerely,

========================

C.  EMAIL ADDRESSES FOR THE OPPOSITION MP?S

(note:  The list below has corrected email addresses from the original list
for MP's:
Nike Ashton, Pat Martin, Tony Martin, Martha Hall-Findlay, André Bellavance,
Johanne Deschamps, Mourani.Ma at parl.gc.ca, Robert Carrier, Gurbax Malhi,
Larry Bagnell, Alex Atamanenko)

Email addresses of all opposition MPs

Bellavance.A at parl.gc.ca
bigrab at parl.gc.ca
freemc at parl.gc.ca
lavalc at parl.gc.ca
ouellc at parl.gc.ca
gagnoc at parl.gc.ca
bachac at parl.gc.ca
debelc at parl.gc.ca
guimoc at parl.gc.ca
bourgd at parl.gc.ca
thilae at parl.gc.ca
bonsaf at parl.gc.ca
lalonf at parl.gc.ca
asselg at parl.gc.ca
ducepg at parl.gc.ca
andreg at parl.gc.ca
dorioj at parl.gc.ca
laforj at parl.gc.ca
royj at parl.gc.ca
Deschamps.J at parl.gc.ca
beaudj at parl.gc.ca
plamol at parl.gc.ca
desnol at parl.gc.ca
malol at parl.gc.ca
lemaym at parl.gc.ca
Mourani.Ma at parl.gc.ca
lafram at parl.gc.ca
faillm at parl.gc.ca
guimom at parl.gc.ca
guaym at parl.gc.ca
dufoun at parl.gc.ca
demern at parl.gc.ca
paillp at parl.gc.ca
cretep at parl.gc.ca
brunep at parl.gc.ca
paquep at parl.gc.ca
blaisr at parl.gc.ca
menarr at parl.gc.ca
nadear at parl.gc.ca
bouchr at parl.gc.ca
Carrier.R at parl.gc.ca
vincer at parl.gc.ca
gauder at parl.gc.ca
pomerr at parl.gc.ca
cardis at parl.gc.ca
menars at parl.gc.ca
stcyrt at parl.gc.ca
lessay at parl.gc.ca
levesy at parl.gc.ca
mendea at parl.gc.ca
tonksa at parl.gc.ca
guarna at parl.gc.ca
kaniaa at parl.gc.ca
nevila at parl.gc.ca
rotaa at parl.gc.ca
patryb at parl.gc.ca
raeb at parl.gc.ca
crombb at parl.gc.ca
wrzesb at parl.gc.ca
murphb at parl.gc.ca
wilfeb at parl.gc.ca
bennec at parl.gc.ca
mctead at parl.gc.ca
mcguid at parl.gc.ca
coderd at parl.gc.ca
leed at parl.gc.ca
leblad at parl.gc.ca
scarpf at parl.gc.ca
valerf at parl.gc.ca
regang at parl.gc.ca
kenneg at parl.gc.ca
byrneg at parl.gc.ca
pearsg at parl.gc.ca
Malhi.G at parl.gc.ca
fryh at parl.gc.ca
cotlei at parl.gc.ca
damouj at parl.gc.ca
karygj at parl.gc.ca
volpej at parl.gc.ca
cannij at parl.gc.ca
mccalj at parl.gc.ca
mckayj at parl.gc.ca
murraj at parl.gc.ca
footej at parl.gc.ca
sgroj at parl.gc.ca
trudej at parl.gc.ca
martik at parl.gc.ca
drydek at parl.gc.ca
duncak at parl.gc.ca
Bagnell.L at parl.gc.ca
macaul at parl.gc.ca
zaracl at parl.gc.ca
garnem at parl.gc.ca
proulm at parl.gc.ca
minnam at parl.gc.ca
silvam at parl.gc.ca
eykinm at parl.gc.ca
hollam at parl.gc.ca
jennim at parl.gc.ca
HallFindlay.M at parl.gc.ca
pacetm at parl.gc.ca
belanm at parl.gc.ca
bevilm at parl.gc.ca
ignatm at parl.gc.ca
savagm at parl.gc.ca
simsom at parl.gc.ca
bainsn at parl.gc.ca
rodrip at parl.gc.ca
szabop at parl.gc.ca
millip at parl.gc.ca
goodar at parl.gc.ca
folcor at parl.gc.ca
oliphr at parl.gc.ca
cuzner at parl.gc.ca
dhallr at parl.gc.ca
andres at parl.gc.ca
brisos at parl.gc.ca
simmssc at parl.gc.ca
murphs at parl.gc.ca
coadys at parl.gc.ca
dions at parl.gc.ca
dhalis at parl.gc.ca
russet at parl.gc.ca
dosanu at parl.gc.ca
eastew at parl.gc.ca
ratany at parl.gc.ca
Atamanenko.A at parl.gc.ca
siksab at parl.gc.ca
masseb at parl.gc.ca
hyerb at parl.gc.ca
hughec at parl.gc.ca
angusc at parl.gc.ca
charlc at parl.gc.ca
gravec at parl.gc.ca
chrisd at parl.gc.ca
blackd at parl.gc.ca
savoid at parl.gc.ca
bevind at parl.gc.ca
davied at parl.gc.ca
thibeg at parl.gc.ca
mathyi at parl.gc.ca
harrij at parl.gc.ca
laytoj at parl.gc.ca
crowdj at parl.gc.ca
malowj at parl.gc.ca
comarj at parl.gc.ca
raffej at parl.gc.ca
wasylj at parl.gc.ca
daviel at parl.gc.ca
duncal at parl.gc.ca
allenm at parl.gc.ca
leslim at parl.gc.ca
cullen at parl.gc.ca
ashton.n at parl.gc.ca
chowo at parl.gc.ca
Martin.Pat at parl.gc.ca
dewarp at parl.gc.ca
juliap at parl.gc.ca
stoffp at parl.gc.ca
mulcat at parl.gc.ca
Martin.T at parl.gc.ca
marstw at parl.gc.ca
godiny at parl.gc.ca