Emergency blimp action
- Details
- Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00
- Written by editor
I need your help. I’ve been working all week on a stunt to influence NAFTA negotiators in Ottawa - but I just got an email saying it’s fallen through.
Negotiators and trade representatives converging on Ottawa to kick-off the third round of NAFTA negotiations.
This is a critical moment in our campaign. We have a chance to flood the city with messages against toxic corporate rights rules known as investor state dispute settlement provisions (ISDS), and to drive our people-powered agenda to the front and centre of NAFTA talks.
Our friends in the US were going to lend us a giant 'STOP ISDS' blimp to fly over Ottawa so we could carry your message all over the city and get it in front of negotiators —by launching it on Parliament Hill, greeting negotiators at the airport, and flying it over the offices where they’ll be working. Only problem? The blimp’s held up in the States, and it can’t get here in time.
I’ve been scrambling for the last 15 hours, calling vendors and pulling out my hair out trying to find a way to make this blimp happen — and I finally found one. A local business in Ottawa can turn around a 25 foot blimp in just 2 days, but to secure the rental we need to raise enough to pay for it within 24 hours
This is a mock-up of what it'll look like:
The third round of NAFTA negotiations kick-off this weekend, and toxic ISDS rules that let corporations sue Canada for billions in secretive tribunals are becoming a major political flashpoint.
Corporate lobbyists and big business have special access to NAFTA negotiators and are keen to keep these toxic rules intact — and it could work unless we keep fighting back.[1]
We don’t have that special access, but we DO have negotiators schedules and office locations, so we can get your big, bold messages against toxic ISDS rules RIGHT in front of them — with high visibility stunts all over Ottawa sure to make a splash.
We’re already projecting giant 50-foot messages against corporate power on key buildings all over Ottawa, where we know negotiators are staying, eating and meeting for late night talks.
Adding the 'STOP ISDS' blimp to fly around the city will maximize our impact and completely flood Ottawa with your messages — during the day and night.
Negotiations are taking place on our turf to re-jig a trade deal that will have massive implications on our collective future — and we need to drown out the suits with people-powered demands, and make sure our messages against toxic ISDS are the stories everyone’s talking about.
Unlike the billionaire corporations, most of us can’t afford to fly to Ottawa to lobby decision-makers. But together we can burst into the city and flood it with big, bold and bright messages against corporate power all day and all night. If enough of us chip in we can make that happen.
https://secure.leadnow.ca/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1694&ea.campaign.id=78240
With hope and respect,
Brittany and Katelynn, on behalf of the entire Leadnow team
P.S. Lots of civil society groups are descending on Ottawa this weekend, and there are lots of exciting events happening. If you’re in Ottawa and want to come to the launch of the blimp, meet us at Parliament Hill (Wellington Gates) on Friday, Sept. 22 at 10:30am. There will also be a NAFTA public discussion forum from 1p.m. to 4 p.m. in Huguette Labelle Hall, Room 112 of Tabaret Hall at the University of Ottawa. Speakers include:
Pamela Palmater, Mi’kmaw citizen, lawyer, professor and Indigenous rights activist
Melinda St. Louis, Director of International Campaigns, Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch
Pedro Torres, President of Mexican agricultural group, ANEC
Mario Delgado Carrillo, Mexican Senator
Tracey Ramsey, Canadian Member of Parliament and NDP trade critic
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