Avaaz: “The third party no one talks about”
during the past federal election, Avaaz, an internationally based liberal activist group, registered for the first time as a third party in Canada — meaning it raised and spent money on campaigning, but wasn’t an official party or candidate.
It spent tens of thousands of dollars aimed at defeating a handful of Conservative candidates, although the Elections Act puts a tight limit on that kind of targeted spending. It has lately been trying to influence the chairman of the Canadian Radiotelevision and Telecommunications Commission.
[…]
The group is based in New York; archived copies of Avaaz’s website from as recently as last year read “we currently have staff based in Rio de Janeiro, Geneva, New York, London and Washington D.C.,” without mentioning any Canadian presence.
The group has no specific Canadian website. The Ottawa phone number listed on Avaaz’s third-party election advertising report is a cellphone number that doesn’t connect to the group; it currently belongs to a federal civil servant who says he was only recently assigned the number by his wireless provider.
Avaaz’s media relations office in New York did not return several messages left over the course of more than a week requesting clarification on this or other questions about the group’s participation in Canadian politics.
Soros is having his billionaire butt kicked by the tea party ordinary folks all across the USA . . . are we surprised he has run away and is now trying his scammy crap here in the Great White North?
You know if I thought for an instant that the Liberal festering sore, call elections canada would do anything about it, I’d register a complaint.
So the bureaucrats at Elections Canada are all Liberals and ignore anything that breaks the rules as long as its to bash the CPC?
Shockah!
Phantom, you are so right. Soros and Strong are working hard to install a Venezuela north. Avaaz is just the front.
Kudos for Kevin Libin doing a great job on this story. Keep it up Kevin.
Ken, at least the trains will run on time.
Sorry Peggy. Better luck next time.
Kudos to Libin indeed. Anyone else doubting the need for Sun TV?
Email Elections Canada and ask them why they refused to act? Didn’t they investigate the Cons for investing to much money in ads?? Why the alleged double standard?
Foreign interference in Canada’s elections should be a criminal offense, the radical left use the internet to lobby and as a tool for progressive/regressive activism. I don’t care if they organize globally but they should NOT be afforded any lawful lobbying power.
Lessee now..
According to Elections Canada’s calculus, Avaaz did not violate the 3rd party spending limits trying to defeat John Baird because the Ottawa Petfinder is distributed in 9 local ridings, allowing Avaaz to allocate the $13,000+ cost of its newspaper ads across all nine ridings, getting under the $3,800 per riding limit.
So, since the Toronto Red Star and/or the Mope and the Wail are both distributed widely across at least 40 ridings in the GTA (and 50 if you want to go to Oakville or Hamilton, Oshawa, etc.), this means any 3rd party organization can spend over $150,000 on ads directed against GTA Liberal candidates. Now, if we could only find three or four of those, we might be on to something.
KevinB: “this means any 3rd party organization can spend over $150,000 on ads directed against GTA Liberal candidates. Now, if we could only find three or four of those, we might be on to something. ”
My guess is that if Conservative groups tried something like this Elections Canada would be on their case in a flash.
thanks to Mr Libin for exposing this blatant fraud, – we must reply with constant reminders of the lieberal entitlist role in all of this – but how do we protest effectively to the compromised Elections Canada ?
The way to counter any biased bureaucratic government trickery is to make a complaint, get a case number, and when nothing is done about the case because of discrimination you then have carte blanche to act in the same way as those you complained about.
If they come against you while doing nothing about your case complaint, you can then point out that if the rules are enforced selectively there are, de facto, no rules at all.
Here’s a video featuring Ricken Patel. Here’s the comment I left on this video:
3 minutes ago
You sir, are an absolute disgrace! For those who don’t know, Mr. Patel is the Canadian head of Avaaza.ca. This group is funded by foreigners and is directly trying to shut down Free Speech in Canada. Whatever your political stripes, if you’re Canadian, do you honestly feel comfortable with Americans and other non-Canadians trying to control what can and can’t be said in Canada? If so, you live in a VERY different reality than I do.
I just found the Avaaz group on Facebook. Not too far from the top is a discussion on this very subject. Most of the comments there are beyond disgraceful, many of them from Canadians.
Here’s the comment I left:
All of you advocating to control free speech in Canada should be absolutely ASHAMED of yourselves!!! But you never will be, will you?
Here’s a direct message to those fellow Canadians on here who are supporting what Avaaz is doing:
Imagine next year if an ultra-conservative American group were to come up to Canada and inject money into a fund whose sole purpose was to shut down the CBC. To stay consistent, would you support them too? I think not.
Until recently I had thought that long ago our forefathers had fought hard for and won our unending rights towards free speech rights. Now it’s obvious, from the many disgraceful comments on here, that I was deluded into thinking this.
To comfort yourselves I realize that you treat any speech you disagree with, even mildly, as “hate speech”. What a convenient way to sugarcoat the totalitarian mindset you have.
I believe Mr. Dion has contact information.
CCCC But both Canadian and Canary start with a CCCC.. this is a test… this is a test
Read the comments on Robert’s face book link, good gawd why don’t those people just move to Cuba and spare sane society from their progressive retarded nonsense. Do you think the global left should be deciding what happens in our elections in Canada?
The National Post keeps on getting better and better. Check it out – last Saturday’s was a gem, with Fulford writing at his usual level of awesomeness. They will always have my subscription. For now at least. 🙂
Kudos to Libin indeed. Anyone else doubting the need for Sun TV?
Posted by: Mark Peters
You own the bullseye. Target attained precisely.
Thanks for working this Kevin.
LindaL:
That was kinda my point. If Elections Canada comes after a right-wing group for doing what I suggest, they can point to Avaaz decision as precedent.
These self-appointed judge and juries love precedents, doncha know?
It seems to me that Avaaz isn’t the first third party wanting to defeat c/Conservatives in Canada that no one talks about.
Power Corporation seems to have been playing the same game since the early ’70s.
Left L/liberal$ and corruption walk together.
Thank you, Kevin Libin and the National Post, for exposing this abominable and brazen interference in our democracy. It’s time for Elections Canada to clean up its act, to investigate these allegations (which, I suspect, are completely factual), and to lay some charges.
I’m sick and tired of being gamed by the l/Librano$.
I have questions about where Avaaz gets it’s dollars. The claim is that for both political advertising and the latest anti-SunTV campaign significant dollars have been donated by Canadians. I don’t believe this for a minute. Canadian’s are not giving much to the left-leaning parties — why ever would they donate to Avaaz’s online petition initiative — something of questionable value. Anyway, Ricken Patel tells us that the latest round of donations to the tune of $110,000 has come from Canadians. If this is true, I suspect it is money laundered through Canadian left-leaning group, but that the ultimate source is Soros. The cause is just not that noteworthy to warrant a lot of public support.
You wanna bet that certain rich communist residing in the US is behind it?
http://cfuwadvocacy.wordpress.com/
Look at the tags
ACORN Canada
Last Wednesday, the day Korey Teneycke resigned, Rob Snow of CFRA Ottawa took on Ricken Patel of Avaaz. WOW! Rob tore apart Avaaz’s opposition to *FOX North* point by point. It was priceless, something rarely heard in Canada.