hit parade

another oda doozy: "We don't need to separate the men from the women in this country ... This government as a whole is responsible to develop policies and programs that address the needs of both men and women."

it's not like we have to play ideological where's waldo with statements like these. she's frighteningly up front about what she and harper have planned, and if you don't think it's the full dismantling of status of women canada, then for the love of god, please don't vote in the spring.

in related news, oh my god. i don't know how to enlarge the site statistic graph to show it here, but what it fucking says tonight is that our site has had over 10,000 hits this month. combined with october stats, we are talking nearly 20,000 hits since launching. that kinda blows my mind.

but our visitors remain rather anonymous, despite our attempts to rattle them out of cages. if there was ever a time for a more overt claiming of the site by its visitors - IT IS NOW. it's go time for anyone who gives the tiniest shit about the federal government retreating from meaningful work on women's equality. bad enough that oda officialized the rumours today by announcing the closure of a bunch of swc regional offices.

but we're dealing with more than feigned concern over rent and utility bills. we're dealing with an aggressive political wave that thinks it's hip to be retro. that's right, we're dancing to the oldies up in here. so backwards is oda's thinking that when defending the closures, she trotted out such mind-fuckingly archaic shit as "What these offices don't necessarily provide is the help directly to women. There was a lot of lobbying groups, there was a lot of advocacy." -- um, Excuse Me? lobby no helpy the women, ya think?

slick of the oda team to make this announcement on the eve of the stupid-ass liberal convention - whatever legs it might have had (thanks, cbc, for making it your 2nd story on the national news) will be totally chopped at the knees by ignatieff et al ad nauseum. so now it's going to take a might provocative angle on our part to pierce through the noise. my first instinct was to ask Why Bother? but then the question became How Can We Not? do we just go quietly under the oppressive cover of all the other more important news, as if this isn't 2006 and there isn't somebody somewhere who gives a good god damn that the minister responsible for the status of women doesn't give a fuck about women?

repentigny votes

i am in the federal riding of repentigny. this municipality neighbours charlemagne, famous for having birthed this little known diva. our campaign office is but a couple of kilometres from this gawd-awful monument erected in her honour. but never mind that for now.

our candidate is a shmoopy steelworker who once served in the military and is now a militant activist. i quite like him. he garnered 8% last time - on monday we hope to double that. and i think it could happen. the seat is assuredly going to the bloc candidate around whom there has been much sensationalism thanks to a strange sordid past. the greens might have run an interesting campaign, if only they hadn't missed the deadline. the conservatives are running an ironically named fella (thanks to a popular quebec comedy show about poverty obnoxia). the liberal candidate is a dud, and would get the fewest votes even if he wasn't.

i have been installed as e-day coordinator since tuesday. we are a modest little campaign, macgyver-ing our way to the finish line with just over 500 marks (a mark is a voter who is confirmed to be supporting our guy). in concrete comparisons, we had roughly 1500 marks during alain's run for city council last year and a bit more than that for vicky's run earlier this month. this means monday will be a sort of E-DAY LITE. i already have more than enough volunteers. motions will be gone through, newbies will learn stuff, ballots cast. then, the champagne.

after rejean Totally Kicked Ass on a radio debate today, we celebrated at a chinese food buffet that was surely laced with a bit of Fuck You Up because we giggled our way through an entrely giddy afternoon. very serious analysis and manipulation of excel spreadsheets were continually interrupted by moments of STOOPID. so by the time pierre stuck pink post-it eyes onto a donut box and accosted me with it, i felt compelled to expose the insanity of a shoestring by-election campaign in a surreal montreal suburb.

launching pink

remember this? when news came out about the brainstorming of the so-called "pink" policy paper at the liberal women's caucus (lwc) retreat, the 'story' was mostly about the colour of the fucking thing, because that's more important than the fact the lwc had had a retreat of its own for the first time ever and that they were actually talking about relevant women's ISSUES.

anyways, the lwc has finally finished the controversially-coloured thing. the "pink book" will be launched with a press conference on the hill this monday the 27th. invitees will also be treated to a small reception at the parliamentary restaurant afterwards. i'll be in repentigny for e-day then, so won't be able to bear witness to history in the making (!), but maybe the pink ladies might make the news that night ... maybe they might bump the inevitable story of the victory of the BQ's prostitute-turned-priest whom our candidate is battling here.

yaris in the night

mood revealing albums (ok, cds, obviously) listened to while hurtling home from repentigny tonight in a rented yaris after two days in as-yet-unsure-i-got-anything-useful-out-of campaign manager training:

kate bush - hounds of love
the smiths - hatful of hollow
til tuesday - welcome home
prince - purple rain

democracy, La Bitch

it's been a week since i've posted anything here. i really have had so much to say, but altogether zero energy to say it, what with the exhaustion of car chaos and election hangovers.

only two days in ste-jerome for provincial convention, but long and arduous those days were. guy lost the presidency - it totally sucked. he was the best chance at continuing the work that's been happening in recent times. myself, i wavered only once from my original plan to run for nothing, and thus, ended the weekend without a seat on the provincial executive - thank christ.

came back from ndp vortex and landed straight into e-day in ontario. getting a flat tire on my way to volunteer did not send me over the edge. nor did the quintessential dumb-ass returning officers i had to contend with at the stupid airless school gym polling station at which i scrutineered for a few hours. maybe miss vicky came in a surprising 3rd in kitchissippi, but i didn't fall over the edge until learning the entire city of ottawa had apparently taken a collective holiday from sanity: the race for mayor was a stunner. the bright light of hope that is alex munter lost to a wacky hi-tech bajillionaire whom no one thought would squeak a win.

be it the dinky executive elections of the quebec ndp or the municipal elections of monday, it would seem that our trusty friend Democracy has a thing or two to say. she snuck up from behind, that bitch, as if to slap you in the back of the head and say, "fuck you, idiot. i'm in charge." the reminder was a harsh one - democracy is a cute concept until you have to watch it in action, actively working against everything you wish for. sure, she's not immune to corruption - she can be manipulated, spun, and even dumbed down. but at the end of the day, democracy rules, whether we like her rules or not.

then every once in awhile, she shows up in the nick of time, throws her soothing arms around you, and envelopes you in sheer joy. like last tuesday. sure, it's been over a week since the american electorate redeemed themselves, but this is a wave i plan to ride for a very long time. holy shit, we really needed this one (the royal we, i mean - those of us whose very ideological health was in utter peril). can you fucking imagine if things had gone the other way?! *shudder* argh, that thought is too dark. oooh, Democracy, the character we love to hate. she keeps us on our toes, but we wouldn't want it any other way. would we?

newsworthy

For Immediate Release

ODA/HARPER-TARGETED INITIATIVE DRAWS OVERWHELMING ATTENTION:

Popularity of website prompts major expansion

HALIFAX/OTTAWA, November 9, 2006 – In just one month on-line, a new website in support of women’s equality has logged over 10,000 hits.

Launched to rally support for Status of Women Canada (SWC) and related issues, statusreport.ca aims a spotlight on what Bev Oda, Minister Responsible for the Status of Women, and Stephen Harper, Prime Minister, and their commitments to women’s equality in Canada.

“We knew there was a need for a site like this, but frankly, the response has been overwhelming,” says Audra Williams, co-founder of statusreport.ca, “Oda and Harper best pay attention, because interest in the SWC matter doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. From what we see, it’s only mounting.”

Co-founder Pam Kapoor says the popularity of the site has confirmed the existence of wide-spread desire for good information about the state of the SWC agency, “Visitors are clamoring for more up-to-the-minute details about what’s happening. They are especially eager for ways to express support for SWC through concrete action.”

Site statistics suggest visitors come from right across Canada, indicating a strong grassroots interest in the future of SWC and the fight for women’s equality. Says Kapoor, “Clearly, people disagree with the backwards direction Oda and Harper are taking where women’s equality is concerned, and they want to do something about it.”

To meet the high demand for dynamic and relevant content, Williams and Kapoor are marking the one month anniversary of statusreport.ca by announcing a schedule for website updates.

Every Monday, a new “action” idea will be featured. On Wednesdays, new content will be added to the site in the form of research, analysis, or original articles. Each FRIDAY, Williams and Kapoor will post a “weekly wrap”, a blog-type summary of goings-on related to statusreport.ca and to SWC. Fridays will also feature a provocative “Question of the Week”, intended to stimulate discussion and dialogue among people across Canada about matters relevant to this issue.

New items at statusreport.ca this week include:

• an announcement of the sudden 24 hours notice for groups to request to appear before the parliamentary committee on the status of women at hearings regarding the cuts and changes to SWC
• “REAL-ity Check”, the first in an ongoing series of original articles regarding opposition to SWC and women’s equality
• a renewed call for photos depicting messages to Oda and Harper

“As long as there is this huge an appetite for a source like ours, we’re going to do whatever it takes to keep it fresh and useful,” says Kapoor.

Statusreport.ca was created to house objective information about SWC, along with tools and motivation for people to lobby the federal government to revisit changes made to the agency's funding and objectives.

– 30 –

Audra Williams and Pam Kapoor are communications consultants based in Halifax and Gatineau, respectively.

Statusreport.ca is non-partisan, unaffiliated with any women’s organization or political party. Williams and Kapoor, with an ad-hoc group of creative women, are dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of SWC and the role it should continue to play in the struggle for women’s full equality in Canada.

For information: media@statusreport.ca; statusreport.ca

almost famous

audra was in town this weekend for a meeting, so we seized the chance to go paparazzi for the photo campaign (which has not yet exploded, so get cracking already). while on the hill, we posed with the famous 5. audra is so funny, there were many close calls between my pee and my pants (check the pinky!).

may i also say that to experience jesse d live is way fucking better than anything he could capture in a recording. despite the piss poor opening acts and other assorted disappointments, jesse fucking Rocked It. he is an Artist. he is a poet. he is an entertainer. and he can rap like the baddest muthafuckas anywhere. lightening skills, my brother.

2 years ago

two years ago last night, bush was re-elected (apparently). i've been reflecting on where i was then. hard to forget the feeling of that madison ballroom in which we were flopped, heads flung back, jaws wide, gawking at the big screens broadcasting voting results from several major networks. we sunk deeper and deeper into despair as the results painted a bleaker and bleaker picture. too tired to even be shocked - the fatigue was palpable. that was two years ago. so now, as we inch closer to the upcoming mid-term elections, all my fingers and toes are crossed that the tide might turn. many are predicting we can take the House, but dammit, i want the senate too. but where the electorate is concerned (especially theirs), i've learned to keep expectations low. god bless america.

pussycats, kit kats

just caught the video for "i don't need a man" by the pussycat dolls, and my question is this: are they not marketing to the very men you don't need? sub-question, need there be that many of them? practically a full litter, i think, yet none of their stuff sounds choral to me. is this spiceless group some kind of contemporary maurice starr project, this time for failed pin-up girls? i'm down with lots of things and not overly adverse to pap, but i really don't get this one. it's the same kind of confusion that washes over me when i see or hear paris hilton. something close to nausea.

it's only been a day and i'm getting mighty ancy about this big bowl of candy near the front door. my first halloween in this house - how could i know fewer than 10 kids would come around for treats? this isn't the ghetto, but it's sorta the hood, so either kids don't really live around here or they all shuttle out to the burbs for the good stuff. all i know is these mini kit kats have got to get the fuck out my house.