For immediate release April 3 2011
National citizens group endorses Elizabeth May
Saanich, Gulf Islands – A national citizens group opposing the Harper Conservatives in the May 2 general election has endorsed Green Party Leader Elizabeth May in the B.C. riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands.
Local members of the group Catch 22 Harper Conservatives www.catch22campaign.ca conducted a 48-hour on-line discussion about which candidate they felt has the best chance of defeating incumbent Conservative Gary Lunn, and came away endorsing May by a large margin.
“We’ll now work extremely hard to have as many people as possible vote for Elizabeth and get rid of Lunn, who has been a very weak MP,” said Masrour Zoghi, a Catch 22 campaigner in B.C.
Catch 22 was launched by public-minded citizens from across the country more than a year ago and is registered with Elections Canada as a Third Party campaign. With interest rapidly growing in strategic voting so that the Conservatives can be defeated, Catch 22 is growing rapidly.
The group will endorse opposition candidates in about 42 ridings where organizers feel the Conservatives are vulnerable. Candidates will be endorsed in another 20 ridings where they won by a small margin over the Tories in the last election.
Catch 22 members in Saanich-Gulf Islands are optimistic that the group’s endorsement will help May become the first Green Party member ever elected in Canada.
“Gary Lunn is extremely vulnerable this time around,” Catch 22 member Murray Reiss, a May supporter, said during the on-line discussion. “His career has been one of steady demotions and people are finally getting tired of him. Elizabeth May has been working tirelessly in this riding for over a year . . . Even in conservative Saanich, people are starting to get excited by the chance to make a little history out here where the polls close after the election has usually been decided.”
Lunn, who was first elected as a Reformer in the riding in 1997, won the riding in 2008 with 43 per cent of the vote, only four per cent more than Liberal Briony Penn. This time Renée Hetherington is the Liberal candidate and Edith Loring-Kuhanga is running for the NDP.
The name Catch 22 originally referred to the 22 days that Parliament was last prorogued. At first, the site listed 22 ridings in which Conservative MPs had won by less than a 10-per cent margin. As the Harper Conservatives abuses of power increased, so has the number of target ridings.
Many of the group’s activists come from the pro-democracy and voting reform movements.
For further information:
Masrour Zoghi (masrour_zoghi@yahoo.ca)
Nick Fillmore 416-903-2613 (fillmore0274@rogers.com)
Website: http://catch22campaign.ca
Facebook: http://facebook.com/catch22campaign
Twitter: http://twitter.com/catch22campaign
-30-