Welcome to the first edition of our newsletter. Thank you for visiting our website and subscribing. We hope that you will find it both informative and inspiring. Let’s jump right in!
Hope is believing in the viability of the possible, rather than the inevitability of the probable. – Marshal Gantz
Upcoming By-elections
Both Elmwood–Transcona (Winnipeg MB) and Lasalle-Émard-Verdun (Island of Montreal QC) face by-elections on September 16th. If you, or anyone you know lives in, or near these ridings, contact the riding associations and candidates to encourage them to cooperate for progressive wins. It is important to support the local progressive candidate most likely to win in these ridings.
The Conservatives recently won in the former Liberal stronghold Toronto-St.Paul riding. Poilievre is campaigning on axe the tax in Winnipeg. Nothing should be taken for granted.
Learn how you can help: Check out our Plan and see how you can take action on our website. Our Resources page links you to sample letters, talking points, toolkits, and more to guide you in talking to neighbours, riding associations, writing op-eds, and starting local chapters for electoral cooperation. If you have any questions or want to get more deeply involved with our campaign, reach out to us!
It’s Fire Season
Top of the news this August 2024 is the devastation of Jasper National Park, including the iconic Maligne Lodge. But nowhere in Canada is immune.
In our blog we delve into the Conservatives’ absence of climate policy, their complicity with the fossil fuel industry and the dangers a Conservative victory would represent to the climate crisis.
Additional resource: John Valliant’s Fire Weather explains why colossal wildfires like Fort McMurray’s “The Beast” and the destruction of Lytton are the new normal.
Shout Out to Supporters
A special shout out to our member Lyn Adamson, whose letter-to-the-editor appeared in The Toronto Star the day after the Toronto-St Pauls by-election explaining why cooperation could have prevented the Conservative win.
If like Lyn, you worry that our electoral system gives power to people who don’t represent the values and concerns of the majority of Canadians, we encourage you to write your own letters! For inspiration and tips, visit our Resources page.
Many thanks to Gordon Laxer for his public endorsement of Cooperate for Canada. He is a political economist, professor emeritus and founding Director of Parkland Institute (1996-2011) at the University of Alberta, and publishes on Canadian politics, including After the Sands: Energy and Ecological Security for Canadians.
What We’ve Done – What’s Coming Up
An Early Ontario Election
Responding to credible rumours that Ontario Premier Doug Ford will call an early election this fall (instead of June 2026), C4C has launched an Ontario section of our website to extend our cooperation plan to the provincial level. Ford’s devastating policy changes contradict what most Ontarians want for the province. With cooperation we could win Ontario back! Thank you if you’ve already signed the Public Letter urging the Ontario NDP, Liberal and Green party leaders to cooperate in the upcoming provincial election! We encourage all of our readers from Ontario to sign it, and to share this newsletter to friends, peers and family in Ontario.
Day for Climate Action – October 1st
Save the Date: On October 1st Seniors For Climate is hosting a Canada-wide day for Climate Action. Find out how you can get involved: Visit their website.
Around the Country
This month we are focussed on Ontario and Doug Ford’s terrible environmental record. In Ford’s words, he is ‘Getting It Done’ – gutting the province’s environmental protections, slashing funding for Indigenous conservation efforts, “explicitly allow[ing] both provincial and municipal governments to expropriate land before environmental approvals” ramrodding greenhouse-gas-generating Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass through the Greenbelt. The new Ontario section of our website includes a plan for cooperation for the upcoming provincial election, and a summary of Ford’s failing record on many critical issues. Cooperation between the NDP, Liberals and Greens is necessary to ensure that Doug Ford and the PCs won’t be able to do even more damage!
Help us Name our Newsletter!
We’re looking for a name for our newsletter that reflects our values, our mission and our vision of cooperation for Canadians. There will be a Shout Out for the person whose suggestion is selected in a future issue. Send us an email with your suggestions.
Find us on Social Media! #CooperateToWin
Follow us, comment on our posts, and share with your networks.
Thanks for reading! We encourage you to share this message with your network.