And they’re off!
This morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked Governor General Julie Payette to dissolve Parliament, launching Canada into its 43rd general election.
With just under six weeks to election day on October 21, federal candidates and parties are running flat out to earn your vote.
In August we asked Council of Canadians supporters like you how you wanted to be involved in the election. More than 10,000 people responded to our survey and your results gave us clear direction.
Your top election priority is climate change. When support for a Green New Deal and protecting the environment are added in, there is no doubt that ensuring a better future for our planet is foremost on your mind.
This matches what we are hearing in communities across the country where people like you are helping to build support for a Green New Deal.
The world’s scientists are telling us that we have to change course – and we need to do it quickly. We have to cut our global greenhouse gas emissions by at least half by 2030 if we are going to have a livable planet in the future.
A Green New Deal for all will ensure that transformation is carried out equitably, that it is rooted in climate justice, that it respects the rights and knowledge of Indigenous Peoples, and that it creates over a million jobs in the process.
You also told us that health care, including a publicly funded national pharmacare program, stopping privatization, and improving long term and seniors’ care have your support, as does electoral reform.
When asked how you would like to see the Council of Canadians take action this election, monitoring and exposing election fraud and advertising on radio, television and social media came out on top.
As you may recall, the Council of Canadians helped shine a light on voter election fraud in the 2011 federal election where misleading phone calls directed some voters to the wrong polling stations.
Like you, we believe democracy requires vigilance. It doesn’t begin and end with casting a ballot – it is something we must work to preserve every day.
With your help, we will monitor for potential voter fraud, and as we have shown, we won’t back down when democracy is threatened.
The Council of Canadians has been built on a commitment to inform, engage and inspire people across the country to take action. For the 2019 federal election, we will soon be releasing a 2019 Voter’s Guide that provides a comparison of party promises and platforms, and a Green New Deal Election Toolkit that gives you creative ideas to get out the vote in your community.
There is so much at stake in the upcoming federal election. The party or parties that win power will have a tremendous responsibility to act urgently in the face of the climate crisis.
The Council of Canadians is non-partisan so we won’t tell you who to vote for. But with your support, we will empower people across the country to get involved in the democratic process and to hold all parties accountable to a people’s agenda for justice and the protection of life on this planet we share.
Please chip in whatever you can.
Thank you for everything you do!
