30 thoughts on “Get in touch with NDP Toronto Centre Candidate”

1. @badger Seems that it does represent the official position of the Green Party from their website.

   I was simply asking a relevant question–nothing should be read into it as to how I would react to the answer. When you have a 1-person caucus, it can be especially difficult to distinguish the views of the leader versus the views of the party. If I’m voting in any riding other than the leader’s riding, I would want to know that the party backs the leader’s personal views in deciding whether or not to vote for that party’s candidate.

2. Getting down to the crunch, in a little more than a week. Here are some details on meetings that some of you in the Toronto area might want to think about attending. I picked this up from the event calendar on Jennifer Hollett’s website http://jenniferhollett.com/

   The Toronto Centre NDP nominations meeting will be held on September 15 at the YMCA on 20 Grosvenor Street, Toronto. Registration begins at 2pm; meeting starts at 2:30pm. Only NDP members residing in Toronto Centre since August 16, 2013 or before, can vote, but all are welcome to attend, according to Jennifer Hollett’s campaign lead (even if you’re not a party member, as far as I know).

   There are three earlier events that may be of interest to some of you. I don’t believe NDP membership or riding residence is necessary or would even be asked, at these events (except maybe the UofT one, not sure …)

   This coming Sunday September 8 from noon to 3pm, Jennifer Hollett will be available to meet and discuss issues with people on her own (McQuaig won’t be there, this is Hollett’s event and not a riding association one) at Cabbagetown Brew for coffee, 552 Parliament Street, Toronto. The Cabbagetown Festival will be in full swing that day on the street. This could be a good chance to share some aspects of your personal FATCA/Jihad story with Jennifer, maybe to give her a couple of sound bites for the nomination meeting. I don’t think you need to be an NDP member or riding resident for this, and I can’t imagine anyone at the door is going to check for that.

   The University of Toronto New Democrats are having an all-candidate meet-and-greet on Tuesday September 10 at the Artful Dodger, 10 Isabella Street, Toronto 6:30-9:00. It’s not clear if this is for NDPers and UofT students only or more general. It might be important to get some anti-FATCA messages circulating there, to try to recruit some students or head off an influx of uninformed McQuaig admirers at the nominations meeting. Just a thought, especially if you’re a student or have kids or young friends who are students, maybe even at York or Ryerson or … Perhaps not for older folk like me, unless maybe you’re an alumnus or a present or emeritus faculty member or teaching assistant at UofT…

   The “official” riding association Meet and Greet for all the candidates will be Wednesday September 11 6-9 pm at the Magic Oven Resto-Bar, 360 Queen Street East, Toronto. This could be a chance to sway McQuaig supporters, and get the message circulated, without the pressure and noise level of the nomination meeting itself. Again, I don’t imagine anyone is going to be checking for membership cards or addresses on driver’s licenses for this one.

   These are three opportunities for Toronto-area residents affected by the FATCA Jihad to get their messages across, where and when it might make a difference. Maybe if you’re working downtown on Wednesday you can swing by after work, before going home wherever that might be. I’m basing my guesses about these not being limited to party members or riding residents, on my recollection of similar events held by the NDP in Ottawa Centre, including a meeting that was intended for riding residents (the meeting about FATCA) at which no one bothered to ask anyone for a driver’s license (it was clearly NOT a party meeting, it was a constituency meeting). I know a number of people who went who aren’t residents of Ottawa Centre. No one minded; they just got more chairs from the storage room at the arena when they realized there were going to be a lot more people than they’d expected.

   There are probably some similar Liberal events for the Liberal candidates in Toronto Centre, but I can’t find them quickly, and as I’m neither a Liberal member nor remote sympathizer I’m not interested in posting that information. However if someone else is and wants to add that to this thread, feel free. McQuaig may have some of her own events, but given what I hear about her non-response to emails asking whether she still stands by previous statements on FATCA, I’m not about to advertise anything for her on this thread. If someone else wants to, it’s your choice.

   These are four chances for Torontonians groaning under the yoke of US imperialist over-reach to educate politically-active Canadians in our largest city about what’s wrong with FATCA and any likely IGA the Harperites have been negotiating secretively for months.

   If there’s a Tory nomination meeting, maybe some aggressive, assertive souls might like to do a little s**t disturbing and ask some pointed questions about how the behind-closed-doors, oh-yes-we-did-ask-for-public-input-in-a-page-buried-way-down-in-the-Finance-Canada-website, approach to something this important and crucial squares with the “accountability and transparency” bullshit Harper was pontificating about when he was in opposition. Then there’s the Senate … But I’m not going to search for and post information on the Tory meetings … I don’t want to be charged with incitement to riot.

3. Thanks for all that information and advice @schubert.

   @dash,
   Your questions make a lot of sense. I am just testy today after having made not much progress getting my 3520-A done, and angry after reading the Harvey article. I feel the US is sucking out my energy, attention, time and resources and I more than resent it.

4. @schubert1975

   Thanks for your message. I certainly wish that I could be there–as a dual citizen–for the meetings on Sept 8, Sept 10, and Sept 15.

   When it comes to the meeting on Sept 11, I’m afraid that I must confess–I’m not only a former resident of Canada, but I’m also a former resident of New York City. Even if I were on Canadian soil and in the Toronto Centre area, I would probably take a pass on this meeting on Sept 11. The timing must be right. Certainly a message opposing the US government is the correct message. But Sept 11 is simply not the right day for such a message. I hope you understand.

5. Calgary411 posted a comment (above) on the “Progressive Economics Forum” website that listed the 40 economists supporting McQuaig because “It seems doubtful that this long list of “economists” are fully educated on FATCA or Ms. McQuaig’s views.”

   I just posted a comment as well.

   It is probably pointless to send emails to lost cause McQuaig as she will not respond, but it might be worthwhile to enlighten the minds of a few of the economists who, as Calgary411 points out, have no or little understanding of the harms of FATCA.

   The website (comments are quickly moderated and recent postings are shown on main page) is:

   http://www.progressive-economics.ca/2013/09/03/economists-for-linda-mcquaig/