Take Action: Local Organizing

Canadian citizens have power when we work together. We need as many voices as possible to ensure that progressive leaders cooperate in order to prevent a CPC government and implement policies that put Canadians’ interests and future ahead of corporate interests, and Poilievre’s control of federal levers of power.

1. Sign the Citizen’s Letter to Federal Party Leaders

Encourage members of your group, local allies and individuals in your area to sign the Citizen’s Letter urging progressive federal leaders to Cooperate for Canada.

2. Meet With or Call your Riding Associations and/or Candidates

Use our talking points to make an argument for cooperation specific to your riding, and encourage members of your group, local allies, and individuals to call or meet with your riding associations and/or candidates.

If you are a part of an organization known in your community, you can also use the talking points and our campaign brochure and toolkits to gain the support of that organization’s members for the Cooperate for Canada campaign. Calling/meeting on behalf of that group can have a greater impact.

3. Organize an Event

There are many ways you can promote, share information about, gain support, and apply pressure for the Cooperate for Canada campaign. Events like town halls or webinars can reach many people at once, and provide an opportunity to encourage action. Invite members from local riding associations – MPs and candidates are even better. Smaller events, like phone blasts, email campaigns, tabling at markets and events are also great ways to get your voice heard.

We encourage you to make use of our campaign brochure and toolkits!

4. Write Letters to the Editor

Writing letters to your local/community papers is a great way to get our message out and initiate conversations in the public arena. Encourage members of your group, local allies, and individuals in your area to write letters to the editor.

Please make use of our sample letters and talking points!

5. Meet with your Parent Organization

Many of us, as members of local and national organizations, are concerned about the adverse impacts of a CPC majority.  The current and most recent Conservative governments at both the federal and provincial levels have used intimidation to squash dissent, tying funding to compliance with increased restrictions on advocacy work, and a meek acceptance of a wide range of repressive policies.

Pierre Poilievre has indicated he will go far beyond these tactics. He plans to invoke the ‘notwithstanding’ clause, removing constitutional rights from groups he and his colleagues consider unworthy.  Funding for programs to support the most vulnerable will disappear.

We urgently need all progressive organizations to support our call to Cooperate for Canada because a CPC victory will destroy everyone’s collective ability to fight for policies that protect Canada’s people and environment.  

We encourage you to share our campaign brochure and make use of the other resources in our toolkits.

Interested in Doing this Work in your Area?

In this first stage of our strategy, we are looking for community leaders to help mobilize people in their ridings to apply local pressure on riding associations and spread the word about the benefits of electoral cooperation in the current political climate. We have established chapters in the Grand River watershed and are working to create new chapters in the Greater Toronto Area and Ottawa in Ontario, as well as in southern B.C.

If you are interested becoming a community leader and working on the initial stages to help grow or to initiate a chapter near you, please contact us to let us know using the link below. Also, be sure to check out our Resources to help you get started.