The Catch 22 Campaign is much more than a legal Third Party registered with Elections Canada to advertise in this election. Our social network is growing quickly now with the use of the internet, telephones and face to face meetings. Our website provides the tools that activists need to organize on the ground – riding by riding – because riding by riding is the only way to go with Canada’s voting system. If you haven’t seen the 2008 poll-by-poll Google Earth maps that we’re using, click on any (large) map on a riding profile page and you will see the amazing potential we have to reach our target voters.
Since its inception in January 2010 as a grassroots campaign to defeat 22 incumbent Harper Conservatives as a consequence for the 22 days of prorogation, Catch 22 has developed into a cross-country social network. We’re not just voters who are angry about the policies of the Harper government or frustrated by a voting system that gives far too much power to political parties and far too little fair representation to voters. Our civic duty extends beyond the ballot box. We care about things in between elections. And we’ve concluded from everything we’ve experience since the last election that Canada needs a change of government – not for the sake of change or for some personal vendettas or to be taken for granted by someone else, but because we need a positive change of direction that points in the direction of building a brighter future for our families, communities and friends. In many cases, it’s about re-building those things that have been eroded or knocked down.
Last week the Catch 22 Campaign kicked off our candidate recommendation (endorsement) process with live meetings in Ottawa and Vancouver. On the weekend, we pioneered the use of our online groups to discuss and then extend support to Elizabeth May as the candidate in Saanich-Gulf Islands in the best position to defeat Gary Lunn. And we proud of that endorsement because in the last election, almost 1 million voters voted Green and received no representation at all in Ottawa.
Today we rolled the online process out to another 15 ridings. Our campaign team has made a candidate recommendation for each of these ridings. We will close the discussion period for this group of ridings at 11:00 p.m. local time on April 5. We are asking for as much local input as possible before we make a decision. Please tell others who live in or near these ridings to check us out. We’ll be continuing with the endorsement process all week. Then we’ll release our list of 19 or 20 vulnerable opposition-held ridings where MPs won by 5% or less over a Con and that will form our voting guide.
So, here’s a quick list of the ridings we added today, incumbent Cons and suggested candidates. It’s not pretty but we had to get the word out (and we’ve never claimed to be just another pretty facebook page). Click here to see the six ridings in which we’ve already gone through the endorsement process.
| Riding | Conservative MP | Catch 22 recommends | Party |
| West Nova (NS) | Greg Kerr | Robert Thibault | Liberal |
| South Shore—St. Margaret’s (NS) | Gerald Keddy | Gordon Earle | NDP |
| Miramichi (NB) | Tilly O’Neill-Gordon | Keith Vickers | Liberal |
| Saint John (NB) | Rodney Weston | Stephen Chase | Liberal |
| Egmont (PEI) | Hon. Gail Shea | Guy Gallant | Liberal |
| Vancouver Island North (BC) | John Duncan | Ronna-Rae Leonard | NDP |
| Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar (SK) | Kelly Block | Nettie Wiebe | NDP |
| Palliser (SK) | Roy Boughen | Noah Evanchuk | NDP |
| Saint Boniface (MB) | Shelley Glover | Raymond Simard | Liberal |
| Oshawa (ON) | Collin Carrie | Chris Buckley | NDP |
| Haldimand—Norfolk (ON) | Diane Finley | Bob Speller | Liberal |
| Oakville (ON) | Terence Young | Max Khan | Liberal |
| Kitchener—Waterloo (ON) | Peter Braid | Andrew Telegdi | Liberal |
| Mississauga—Erindale (ON) | Bob Dechert | Omar Alghabra | Liberal |