The following is the letter I sent today to my MP in Ottawa South. Please send letters to ensure your MPs are aware of your views, given committee moved to clause-by-clause on Monday. This is when we will learn what amendments will be tabled by each party, and the debate on whether bill C-11 will become better or worse will start.
March 10, 2012
May 3, 2011
Saying this was an interesting election to watch would be an understatement. The Conservatives received the majority they asked for with 167(54.2%) seats, but that wasn’t the biggest story for me last night. The NDP is now the official opposition with 102 seats, the Liberals are down to 34 seats, the Bloc may fade out of existence having barely kept 4 seats, and Green party leader Elizabeth May won her seat. It is clear that change was in the air, and change we received.
Now we will move to the hard part of governing. The Conservatives have some Progressive Conservative types who may be willing to aggressively ensure that Mr. Harper governs close to the center.
The NDP have a large, but very young and new caucus. Their learning curve is going to be massive, and there will be some bumps along the way which they will need to be very careful about.
The Liberals now need to take the time to figure out where they go from here, as will the Bloc who I hope will decide that the days of having a separatist party within the federal parliament are now over.
May 2, 2011
This is turning out to be a more exciting election than it seemed heading into it. While a Conservative majority or minority still seems most likely, who would have guessed that an NDP minority government or NDP official opposition was on the table? Who would have predicted the collapse of the Bloc support in Quebec?
While the mangling of voter intention caused by our antiquated First Past the Post electoral system makes it hard to predict outcomes, I'm pretty confident about some districts. There are a number of specific districts I will be watching closely election night, with most (but not all) based on my interest in technology law.
April 2, 2011
I live in the electoral district of Ottawa South. While people have asked me during the election which party to vote for that would best protect their rights in relation to technology law, I don't offer them the answer they want. I say to get involved in the local district, and find out which person or person(s) will best represent them. Having sat down with many MPs over the years, I truly believe it comes down to the individuals and not the parties.
Today I dropped in on the campaign offices of and Conservative Elie Salibi (@VoteElieSalibi) and Liberal David McGuinty (@DavidMcGuinty).
July 29, 2010
2010-06-11: I sent a letter this afternoon to my Member of Provincial parliament for Ottawa South, who happens to be Premier Dalton McGuinty. I copied it to my federal MP, as well as to Andrea Horwath, Leader of Ontario’s New Democrats, and Tim Hudak, Leader of the Ontario PC Party.
Update 2010-07-29: I have sent an additional letter to Mr. McGuinty.
Thank you for your letter of July 27, 2010, in response to the letter I sent on June 11, 20101. I hope that you will reconsider the response, which was to say that it would be inappropriate for you to comment on a federal piece of legislation.
I forgot to include a link to the FAQ on why I disagree with what CMEC has been asking for.
May 3, 2009
The following is a letter I wrote to my MP:
Mr. McGuinty,
I know Canadians love Obama, and I have to admit that I fell for this great speaker as well, but his decision to include Canada on the priority watch list in USTR's Special 301 shows how little he knows about this key legal and economic issue facing the global economy.
October 6, 2008
The list of candidates supporting the Copyright Pledge has been updated on Monday the 6'th.
If your candidates aren't on this list, then ask them if they would take the pledge.
Addition: Hijal De Sarkar (NDP, Ottawa South)
September 29, 2008
A Hill Times article by Simon Doyle, Abbas Rana and Bea Vongdouanchanh documents the 40 Conservative targeted ridings. The in-paper version included a table of the ridings, and I've linked this article with the 40 ridings so people will know if they are one of them.
Please try to talk to all Candidates about copyright, but especially talk to the Conservatives in these ridings. It would be great if during this election that the Conservatives could find their "Charlie Angus" -- someone who can switch the party from being anti-technology/modernization to being an advocate.
September 10, 2008
While I have had party membership in the past, I am currently not a member of any party. I'm a person with a technical background and have spent a lot of volunteer time in the last decade working on public policy in areas of technology law. If you are a fellow technical person looking for some ideas during this election, I'll offer what I'm thinking.
Read the rest of this entry on IT World Canada »
August 7, 2008
It is great to be monitoring the mailing lists of various Fair Copyright groups, and seeing reports from meetings with MPs.
Recent list messages indicated that Alex Harford met with James Moore (Port Moody - Westwood - Port Coquitlam, Conservative) and Kevin Schut met with Ed Fast (Abbotsford, Conservative). Notes are being posted to a page on their WIKI dedicated to MP meetings.
In my own riding of Ottawa South we haven't yet had our meeting to discuss Bill C-61. I am trying to contact nominated candidates (See WIKI page) for the major parties as I believe it is important for us to include these people as well.
July 23, 2008
July 14, 2008
McGuinty discusses the abuse of confusion by telecom companies for marketing, and his Bill C-555.
July 11, 2008
An ITBusiness.ca article by Brian Jackson talks about the triple-locked iPhone 3G launch in Canada. It includes mention of my MP, Liberal MP David McGuinty, who has tabled a private members bill, has an online petition in support of it, and has become involved in the politics around the failed wireless market.
July 7, 2008
While I would never buy an iPhone as it is locked down against the owner in more ways that I would care to count, I find it interesting that advocates are promoting McGuinty's petition in support of Bill C-555. David McGuinty has an online petition in support of the bill.
June 7, 2008
My MP has launched a petition that Canadians can sign onto in support of his private members bill.
He has posted more about the issue on his website.
May 23, 2008
On May 13'th I sent the following letter to Liberal MP Dan McTeague, Conservative MP Gord Brown, Bloc MP Serge Ménard, NDP MP Charlie Angus, my own MP David McGuinty and to the Hill Times. I expected that I would post the letter when I received a reply, but even though the MPs were in their ridings this last week I received absolutely no reply.
I find it disturbing that there is very little about this special interest caucus being disclosed to the public. Unlike a committee where the membership and minutes are disclosed, this group of MPs have been meeting with lobbiests to get a narrow idea of the issues without any possibility of the Canadian public holding them accountable.
