I received a message from an acquaintance about protecting Canada’s democracy, independence, and economic well-being:
I’m sending this information out to all my friends, I hope you take the time to read it and see all the progressive Canadians that are behind this initiative. Please consider adding your voice to this important movement. Thanks
This link takes you to a website where you can sign the pledge and read this message:
Previous generations have fought to protect our democracy and made sacrifices to build the Canada we inherited.
This is now our time.
The threats of economic coercion from the United States, our neighbour and leading trading partner, pose serious risks to the well-being of all Canadians and to our sovereign right to determine our political, economic, social, and cultural destiny.
We will meet the challenge as previous generations have done, not by bending to threats but by joining together in common purpose, across partisan, regional, and cultural differences, to look out for one another, to protect our shared interests and assets, and to safeguard our democracy.
Canadians will decide Canada’s future and place in the world.
What is required in this moment is solidarity among Canadians and among our political leaders – federal, provincial, territorial, Indigenous, and municipal. We call on our leaders to work together across partisan divides to forcefully affirm and defend, in word and deed, Canada’s sovereignty, to put in place measures that mitigate the consequences of any unilateral actions on workers, families, and businesses, and to increase Canada’s resiliency in an increasingly turbulent and unpredictable world.
We therefore pledge our commitment to the following principles:
1. We must develop an all-of-Canada approach that is built collaboratively, engages Canadians, and balances to the extent possible our shared and diverse interests. We must also respect and protect our official languages, rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. No region or sector should seek to secure favour at the expense of the rest of the country.
2. We must unequivocally assert and protect the sovereign right of Canadians to shape their own political, economic, social, and cultural destiny, and protect our democracy from disinformation and foreign interference from both public and private actors such as through the manipulation and capture of online platforms.
3. To enhance Canada’s resiliency in this increasingly turbulent world, we must reduce our dependence on the United States by diversifying our trade and strengthening our collective tools and institutions necessary to defend and build the Canada we want, consistent with our shared commitments to inclusive democracy and human rights, equity and labour rights, environmental responsibility, reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, and good global citizenship.
4. We must give priority to protecting nature, to preserving control over our lands and water systems, and to resolute action on the climate crisis.
5. We must seek and build alliances with other countries similarly threatened and with other like-minded countries. We must contribute our fair share to international cooperation for global climate action, common defence through alliances of democratic societies, humanitarian response to suffering in the world, and welcoming and protecting those seeking shelter in our lands.
Signatories:
- Acuna, Ricardo, Executive Director, Parkland Institute
- Angus, Charlie, Member of Parliament for Timmins – James Bay
- Axworthy, Hon. Lloyd, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs for Canada
- Babbington, Andria, President Toronto & York Region Labour Council
- Barlow, Maude, Former Chairperson, Council of Canadians
- Bidini, Dave, Musician & Writer, founding member of the Rheostatics
- Blackstock, Cindy, Executive Director, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada & professor in School of Social Work, McGill
- Brouillette, Caroline, Executive Director, Climate Action Network – Réseau action climat Canada
- Brown, Hugh Christopher, Multi-instrumentalist musician & singer-songwriter
- Cappe, Mel, Distinguished Fellow, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy & former Clerk of the Privy Council
- Cartwright, John, Chairperson, Council of Canadians
- Champ, Paul, Lawyer
- Chang, Lily, Secretary-Treasurer, Canadian Labour Congress
- Clarke, George Elliott, Poet & Scholar of African-Canadian Literature
- Cloutier, Daniel, Directeur québécois, Unifor / Quebec Director, Unifor
- Creeggan, Jim, Bassist, songwriter & founding member of Barenaked Ladies
- Crombie, David, Former Mayor and federal Cabinet Minister
- Deibert, Ronald J., Professor and Director of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto
- Dexter, Darrell, Former Premier of Nova Scotia
- Donolo, Peter, Advisor, Government and Volunteer Sectors
- Douglas, D., C.M., Executive Director. OCASI-Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants
- Drake, Karen, Associate Professor and former Associate Dean (Students) at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University; member, Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation; former Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission
- Easter, Wayne, Former Solicitor-General of Canada
- Edugyan, Esi, Writer
- Gardner, Dan, Writer
- Go, Amy, President of Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice
- Gray, Tim, Executive Director, Environmental Defence
- Hancock, Mark, National President, CUPE
- Harmer, Sarah, Singer, songwriter & environmental activist
- Harris, Jack, Former Member of Parliament for St. John’s
- Hassum, Jen, Executive Director, Broadbent Institute
- Himelfarb, Alex, Former Clerk of the Privy Council of Canada
- Homer-Dixon, Thomas, Executive Director, Cascade Institute
- Hurtig, Barbara, dedicated Canadian
- Ignace, Marianne, FRSC, Distinguished Professor, Linguistics and Indigenous Studies, Simon Fraser University; Director, Indigenous Languages Program and Indigenous Languages Centre, SFU
- Kerr, Don, Musician & producer
- Klein, Seth, Author of ‘A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for a Climate Emergency’
- Lachemi, Mohamed, President and Vice-chancellor, Toronto Metropolitan University
- Lagacé Dowson, Anne, journaliste et animatrice de radio
- Lam, Vincent, MD, Addiction Medicine & Author
- Laverdière, Hélene, ex-députée de Laurier–Ste-Marie, porte-parole de l’opposition officielle pour les affaires étrangères (2011-2015) et ex-diplomate canadienne
- Leslie, Megan, Megan Leslie, Former Deputy Leader of the NDP and former MP for Halifax
- Lindeman, Tamara, Singer, songwriter, & actor
- Liu, Laurin, former Member of Parliament for Rivière-des-Mille-Îles (2011-2015)
- MacLean, Jason, Chair, Canadian Health Coalition
- McKenzie, Kwame, CEO, Wellesley Institute
- McGowan, Gil, President, Alberta Federation of Labour
- McQuaig, Linda, Author
- Mangan, Dan, Singer-songwriter
- Maize, Andy, Singer-songwriter and co-founding member of the Skydiggers
- Moscrop, David, Writer
- Murley, Mike, Saxophonist/composer & Professor of Music Emeritus, University of Toronto
- Neve, Alex. International human rights lawyer/professor & Senior Fellow, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa
- Nevin, Andrew, Director, Brainomics Venture, Centre for Brain Health, U. Texas, co-author of Flourishing in Canada: How to Get the Good Life & retired PwC partner
- Palmater, Pamela, Mi’kmaw lawyer & Chair in Indigenous Governance, TMU
- Parry, Evalyn, Theatre creator & songwriter, director, writer, and performer
- Parry, Richard Reed, Composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist with Arcade Fire
- Pate, Hon. Kim, Senator
- Payne, Lana, National President, Unifor
- Perry, Mike, Former Executive Director, Métis Nation of Ontario
- Phillip, Grand Chief Stewart, President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs
- Picard, Magali, Présidente, Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ)
- Possian, Amara, Canada Team Lead, 350.org
- Richler, Noah, Author
- Robillard, Lucienne, ancienne ministre de l’Immigration, des Réfugiés et de la Citoyenneté, Canada / former Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Canada
- Rock, Allan, President Emeritus, uOttawa; former Attorney General of Canada & former Ambassador to the U.N.
- Saunders, Vicki, Founder, Coralus
- Scott, Craig, former MP for Toronto-Danforth & Professor of Law, Osgoode Hall Law School
- Segato, Lorraine, Musician
- Sexsmith, Ron, Musician
- Shaker, Erika, National Office Director, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
- Shingray, Amir, Visual artist & digital marketing consultant
- Solberg, Janet, Past President, Ontario NDP
- Stanford, Jim, Economist and Director, Centre for Future Work
- Suzuki, David, Environmentalist, geneticist, broadcaster
- Swinghammer, Kurt, Musician & Painter
- Tait, Holly Star, Chairperson, Canadian Federation of Students
- Taylor, Julian, Singer-songwriter
- Teillet, Jean, Author, artist, retired
- Tewksbury, Mark, Athlete, Chef de Mission of Canada’s 2020 Summer Olympics Team, LGBTQ+ advocate
- Whitely, Ken, Folk, blues, and gospel musician
- Williams, Danny, Entrepreneur & former Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador
- Wong, Joseph, Past Chair, United Way of Greater Toronto
- Wynne, Kathleen, Former Premier of Ontario
Categories: Democracy
in-sights.ca 
Is the NDP aware that actionnetwork.org is an American company and any fundraising must funnel through Strike, also an American company !!!??? We must research better than just assuming a politician cares enough to fact check. Read labels: look for country of origin: support small businesses. And, by all means, distance ourselves from the great United Mistakes.
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[This is the text of an e-mail sent to MP Angus on Feb 01, via his parliamentry email.]
Dear Mr. Angus
Thank you for your vigorous stance on Canada’s resistance to what is happening south of the border.
I have followed every appearance you have made on Meidas Touch Netowrk, and I’ve followed them since they were just 3 young guys making a few snarky videos in 2017, helping me survive trump 1.0.
However, all Canadians will need to unite behind efforts such as yours from now into the foreseeable future under the 2.0 version.
I do have some concerns before moving deeper into Pledge for Canada.
1. Problem with Action Network site
Please move your Pledge for Canada website onto a Canadian host / provider as soon as possible.
Action Network is an American organization, operating under American laws. As stated on their “About Us” page, found here:
https://actionnetwork.org/about-us
Action Network, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, trains and educates progressives on how to use technology to organize for change!
Action Network is also the sole shareholder of Action Squared, Inc., the maker of the Action Network and Action Builder toolsets.
Whether they wish to or not, ActionNetwork must comply with US law, as determined by the current US administration, which does not wish Canada well. They are subject to all the data retention and disclosure requirements which that administration may now or in the future devise.
Any Canadian resistance movement needs to be removed entirely from possibility of US interference.
2. Problem with Data Privacy & Protection on Pledge for Canada
Because Pledge for Canada may have participation from Canadians abroad, including residents in the European Union, technically participant data would be subject to the General Data Protection Regulation, which applies to everyone acting in EU jurisdictions. It came into force in 2018, and has become the global gold standard on Data Protection. The EU has (successfully) sued heavyweights such as Google and Facebook many millions of euros for breaches of GDPR rules.
Canada’s PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) is weak in comparison. Worse, it does not even apply to non-profits, creating a security black hole. Non-profits usually have the fewest technical and personnel resources to deal with data protection.
As outlined above, any data by and about Canadians which is gathered under the Action Network umbrella will be subject to American (not Canadian) law. US intelligence agencies, as arms of the US administration, may require disclosure at any time, beyond Canadian controls or protections.
This is a serious consideration for any resistance movement.
Summary:
For the reasons above, I urge you to move all Pledge for Canada web functions that may gather Canadian data into Canadian jurisdiction. We are rather good at all things digital — after all, Canadian Geoffrey Hinton, the father of AI, just shared a Nobel Prize for his work. And our own Blackberry set trends in the early digital generations, etc. I am confident that we have the technical expertise within our country to keep our data out of southern hands.
Thank you for your consideration, and for championing our country.
I proudly wear my cap that says “Canada is Already Great.”
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We are Canadian. We are proud. We are smart. We are strong.
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