Request for help for full page National ad for the NWPA Fight

[jedi jeffi]

Got this late last night from Jim Coffey and the Canadian Rivers Network and Ispeak.

Find out from your club or your Provincial group what you can do. From your perspective on this issue. If you do not belong to a group any help here is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jeff

(you know the drill copy, paste forward.)

Quote”

Begin forwarded message:

Subject: Fwd: NWPA's last stand.... full page ad in globe and Mail

Hi everyone... below you find a conversation between Doug Skeggs and I about a major "call to Action" by The Canadian Rivers Network for Friday Feb 20 regarding the gutting of the NWPA (navigable Waters Protection Act). We are entertaining the idea of a full page ad in the Globe and Mail... read below for details and rationale. We are open to other ideas if anyone has anything better that we are missing.

You have been copied on this email because you have proven to be a valuable ally and player in river conservation... thank you... but we are going to need your help again. The plan is to amass 1000 people into a group... for this we are using facebook.... causes... save the NWPA! Protect Canada's Rivers. This group was started by Celeste Cote of the Sierra Club and has almost 300 supporters. We need that group to reach at least 1000 people by next Friday.

We will then do a week long fundraising blitz... $10 (or maybe $20) at a time.... to raise $10000 for some type of very direct, very pointed advertisement letting people know that gutting environmental protection (such as NWPA) for ease of infrastructure development is unacceptable for us as Canadians.

Please let me know how you think you can contribute to this action... in particular driving up group membership and raising $... this might be our last significant action before the NWPA is gutted.

thanks again for your continued support,

Jim Coffey

Esprit

canadian rivers network

Jim:

Perhaps, a campaign like this can happen in different parts of the country, perhaps we can get commercial interests involved.

Maybe we can look at an ad in:

Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal

With regional groups doing the work in each area to get the funding and names.

D

On 14-Feb-09, at 12:18 AM, Jim Coffey wrote:

Doug, Will and Stef

From speaking with Doug, my take on the NWPA situation is that it doesn't look very good at the moment.... I understand that the dismantling of the act will go through under the economic stimulus omnibus bill.

We are amassing a large support group of concerned people ... but they are paralyzed in what they can actually do as things are happening so fast... especially as it looks like we are fighting a loosing battle.

So... here is an idea.

Should we consider a one time, full page ad in the Globe and Mail stating our frustration and protest over the gutting of the NWPA. We could VERY STRONGLY state our case and include that our governing officials ARE NOT LISTENING and that we find their actions UNACCEPTABLE.

The bottom half of the page would have the names of all supporters that donated $10-$20 p/p to pay for the ad. We rally 1000 names... through facebook... set up a paypal account and make a call for action for donations and each person gets their name on the ad as a signatory.

For the donors and signatories... so many people feel helpless... at least they could donate $10 to $20 buy the paper and cut out the ad ... show people, scrapbook, frame it......

We could motivate people by asking the question....

Imagine your grandchild asking you.... "why did our waterways get destroyed grandma (grandpa) ... why didn't anyone try to stop it" ... at least grandma/grandpa could pull out the ad and say "Well.... at least we tried"... blah blah blah....

I think we need 1 week to get 1000 names on the facebook causes site... right now we are almost 300. We make a push to get 1000 and 2 days before the bill passes take out the ad. Let those who could de-couple the NWPA from economic stimulus bill... Harper/Baird... and the others who could change things see that there are many people who believe that the way this has been pushed through is unacceptable.

I saw this once by a group called Not In My Name protesting the invasion of Iraq and had famous signatories in a full page ad in USA today. This one would be representative of 1000 concerned everyday people. It would be like publishing a petition... accepting that "they won ... the bill will be gutted" but that we dont condone their actions and will remember come election time.

Anyway... its late.... any thoughts?

jim

On 12-Feb-09, at 10:51 PM, Canadian Rivers Network wrote:

Many people have been asking for a detailed assessment of what

amendments are being proposed to the Navigable Waters Protection Act and

what the actual impact of those amendments will be.

Attached are two articles of interest:

1) Ecojustice Memorandum

Re: Proposed amendments to the Navigable Waters Protection Act and the

erosion of public navigation rights on Canadian waterways

Date: February 9, 2009

Author: Will Amos, Staff Lawyer, uOttawa-Ecojustice Environmental Law

Clinic, with research assistance from Yolanda Saito and Sam Sonshine

2) Research Conclusions Regarding the Amended Navigable Waters

Protection Act, as included in the Budget Implementation Act, Bill C-10.

Prepared by the Lake Ontario Waterkeepers

Please distribute through your networks and encourage people to write to

their MP along with the short list below and the members of the

following standing committees of parliament, insisting on a full public

consultation before amending the NWPA.

Grant Mitchell (mitchg@sen.parl.gc.ca)

Geoff Regan (Regan.G@parl.gc.ca)

Alan Tonks (Tonks.A@parl.gc.ca)

Bob Rae (Raeb@parl.gc.ca)

Scott Brison (Brison.S@parl.gc.ca)

John McCallum (McCallum.J@parl.gc.ca)

Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities (TRAN)

Chair

Merv C. Tweed (Tweed.M@parl.gc.ca)

Vice-Chairs

Mario Laframboise (LafraM@parl.gc.ca)

Joseph Volpe (Volpe.J@parl.gc.ca)

Members

Dennis Bevington (Bevington.D@parl.gc.ca)

Lois Brown (Brown.L@parl.gc.ca)

Sukh Dhaliwal (Dhaliwal.S@parl.gc.ca)

Roger Gaudet (Gaudet.Ro@parl.gc.ca)

Candice Hoeppner (Hoeppner.C@parl.gc.ca)

Brian Jean (Jean.B@parl.gc.ca)

Gerard Kennedy (Kennedy.G@parl.gc.ca)

Colin Mayes (MayesC@parl.gc.ca)

Jeff Watson (Watson.J@parl.gc.ca)

Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development (ENVI)

Chair

James Bezan (BezanJ@parl.gc.ca)

Vice-Chairs

Bernard Bigras (BigraB@parl.gc.ca)

Francis Scarpaleggia (ScarpF@parl.gc.ca)

Members

Peter Braid (Braid.P@parl.gc.ca)

Blaine Calkins (Calkins.B@parl.gc.ca)

Linda Duncan (Duncan.L@parl.gc.ca)

David J. McGuinty (McGuinty.D@parl.gc.ca)

Christian Ouellet (Ouellet.C@parl.gc.ca)

Justin Trudeau (Trudeau.J@parl.gc.ca)

Mark Warawa (Warawa.M@parl.gc.ca)

Jeff Watson (Watson.J@parl.gc.ca)

Stephen Woodworth (Woodworth.S@parl.gc.ca)

Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage (CHPC)

Chair

Gary Ralph Schellenberger (SchelG@parl.gc.ca)

Vice-Chairs

Carole Lavallée (LavalC@parl.gc.ca)

Scott Simms (Simms.S@parl.gc.ca)

Members

Charlie Angus (Angus.C@parl.gc.ca)

Rod Bruinooge (Bruinooge.R@parl.gc.ca)

Dean Del Mastro (DelmaD@parl.gc.ca)

Ruby Dhalla (DhallR@parl.gc.ca)

Shelly Glover (Glover.S@parl.gc.ca)

Nina Grewal (Grewal.N@parl.gc.ca)

Roger Pomerleau (Pomerleau.R@parl.gc.ca)

Pablo Rodriguez (RodriPa@parl.gc.ca)

Tim Uppal (Uppal.T@parl.gc.ca)

Canadian Rivers Network

www.ispeakforcanadianrivers.ca

NOTE: You are receiving this email because you are on the

mailing list of the Canadian Rivers Network. We do not share

our mailing list. To be removed from or added to this list please

send an email request to canrivers@sympatico.ca<Memorandum - NWPA Amendments in Budget Implementation Act - Will Amos - uOttawaEcojustice Environmental Law Clinic.pdf><2009-02-11.NWPA.pdf>

Jim Coffey

jim@whitewater.ca

“unquote

[Dan Andrews]

Have you asked the OFAH for help?

[jedi jeffi]

I beleive they have chili!

Both through the Canadian OUtdoors network (hunt/fish groups) (posted earlier) and through the group at I speak and Canadian Rivers Network.

I am just reaching out to those not affiliated with any group to get involved. The is a "heck" of a numbers game to get to be listened too!

And I appreciate the tolorence of my postings.

I am trying to keep all sides informed what the other is doing, because in this battle we are in it all together and the majority of the outdoor users now see it.

So if anyone has any ideas or contact your group and see what they want you to do.

All I know is we need a full scale attack from all those concerned with thier outdoor activities.

Thanks.

[Dan Andrews]

I really don't understand the silence here Jeff. . I'm kind of ashamed really. Maybe if you add some angry smileys and say it's your spot, stop telling everyone, it will garner attention

Can you imagine the crap hitting the fan if they got their way and some of us tried kayaking and got the boot? I think it's just too big for most to comprehend. Some here believe they can't actually ban hunting or fishing. Yes indeed folks you can lose perfectly logical rights if you don't say NO when they pose the question.