Do you remember that Facebook group Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament – the one that, at last count, had 225,392 members? With federal politicians returning to Ottawa on Wednesday, it has rather lost its raison d’etre.
But the organizers say they will continue to fight democratic apathy under the banner of Canadians Advocating Political Participation. And they will hold a news conference Tuesday to discuss launch a new website CanadaParticipates.ca.
Justin Arjoon, CAPP’s central coordinator, said the main goal is to encourage greater political participation.
“We want Canadians to participate in democracy,” said Mr. Arjoon. “We want to reverse this trend of apathy that Canadians seem to be feeling towards our system of government by holding our government accountable and also be educating Canadians and encouraging them to get involved at a local level.”
Just 58.8 per cent of registered Canadian voters turned out to the polls in the 2008 federal election. But Mr. Arjoon said his group is about more than just getting out the vote.
“It’s getting Canadians to understand what’s going on and to try to get them engaged in things other than voting. Like going to town halls or holding events about issues that concern them, talking to politicians.”
CAPP declares itself to be non-partisan.
That “doesn’t mean that we have no political affiliation,” said Mr. Arjoon. “Our members have every political affiliation. There are NDP members, there are Liberal members, there are Green members, there are Conservative members.”
CAPP raised about $10,000 during the anti-prorogation rallies that were held across Canada in January and is waiting to get established as a non-profit group so it can sustain itself in the longer term.
Basically, said Mr. Arhoon, “we want to see our government act more responsibly to the needs of Canadians.”
(Photo: Toronto protesters march against the prorogation of Parliament in January. Chris Young/The Canadian Press)
