(Le français suit) AUGUST 20, 2015 - UPDATE: Since the election has been called for October 19, the 5 federal party leaders have been added as recipients of this petition because this is now an election issue. I wonder, has anyone at Canada Post ever tried to to push a stroller or a wheelchair or a walker through the snow? I don't think they realize the impact of ending door-to-door mail delivery when it comes to the parents of young children, to the disabled, and to the elderly, especially in winter.  What about the sweltering summers? Or miserable thunderstorms and heavy rain? The garbage that is going to happen around them and who is going to clean it up? Millions of Canadians were surprised and angry to learn they may have to travel kilometers to get their mail. I am the mother of two young boys. My youngest has cerebral palsy and uses a walker or wheelchair to get around. For me, Canada Post’s decision would mean having to bundle them up and struggle through the snow with a wheelchair just to get our mail.  And I am just one of thousands of Canadians who must already overcome mobility challenges on a daily basis. On top of that, 8000 employees are going to lose their jobs because of this decision! And, we’re hearing that these new “superboxes” might not be very safe. My grandfather, god rest his soul, was a WW2 veteran and became a mailman. They take their work very seriously otherwise they would not brave the weather. My current mail carrier is also proud of the service she provides for the community. Why change something that is working well for communities across Canada? This has to be stopped. A lot of people need home delivery because of their circumstances. Please sign the petition and share this with as many people as you can. The more people we get, the more solid the chances will be that Canada post and the government hear our voices!!  --- Je me demande, est-ce que quelqu'un à Postes Canada a déjà essayé de pousser une marchette, ou faire avancer une chaise roulante, ou marcher avec une canne, dans la neige? Je ne pense pas qu'ils ont conscience de l'impact de la fin du service postal à domicile sur les parents de jeunes enfants, sur les personnes aux prises avec des handicaps et sur les personnes âgées, particulièrement en hiver. Des millions de Canadiens ont été surpris et fâchés d'apprendre qu'ils devraient se déplacer parfois sur des kilomètres pour aller chercher leur courrier. Je suis la mère de deux jeunes garçons. Mon plus jeune souffre de paralysie cérébrale et doit utiliser une marchette ou une chaise roulante pour se déplacer. Dans mon cas, la décision de Postes Canada me force à habiller mes deux enfants et à me démener à pousser une chaise roulante dans la neige seulement pour pouvoir aller chercher mon courrier. Et je ne suis que l'une parmi des milliers de Canadiens qui doivent surmonter des défis de mobilité à tous les jours. De plus, 8000 employés vont perdre leur emploi en raison de cette décision! En plus, on entend parler du fait que ces "superboîtes" ne sont pas très sécuritaires. Mon grand-père, Dieu ait son âme, était un vétéran de la Deuxième Guerre Mondiale et est devenu facteur par la suite. Ces gens prennent leur travail très au sérieux, sinon ils ne braveraient pas les conditions météorologiques. Ma facteure est très fière des services qu'elle fournit à sa communauté. Pourquoi changer quelque chose qui fonctionne si bien pour les communautés locales partout au pays? Il faut arrêter cela. Nombreux sont ceux et celles qui ont besoin du service à domicile en raison de leur réalité particulière. S'il vous plaît, signez la pétition et partagez-la avec le plus de gens que vous le pouvez. Plus nous en parlerons, plus nos chances seront bonnes que Postes Canada et le gouvernement nous entendront!!

UPDATE Sept 28: Tarek and John have now spent 43 days in prison in Egypt. They have been on a hunger strike for two weeks and are in poor health. This morning, we received news of "impending charges." We believe that whatever charges the Egyptian authorities are seeking against Tarek and John have much more to do with the carnage they witnessed and filmed, rather than what the Egyptian authorities claim they did.   Earlier in September, the Egyptian Minister of Tourism released a video pleading with other countries to lift travel advisories on Egypt. Egypt's Minister of Foreign Affairs appeared before the UN General Assembly this week. Egypt's Deputy Prime Minister visited Canada this week to promote trade between the two countries.  As Egypt's new Government seeks favour with the international community, we must hit them where it hurts -- tourism, trade, and their international reputation -- until Tarek and John are free. We have added the Prime Minister of Egypt as well as the Ministers of Tourism, International Trade, and Foreign Affairs as targets on our petition. We released this statement today from Tarek and John describing the events of August 16, the day they were arrested. Here is an excerpt:   "We decided to check out the Square, five blocks from our hotel, carrying our passports and John's HD camera. The protest was just starting – peaceful chanting, the faint odour of tear gas, a helicopter lazily circling overhead – when suddenly calls of “doctor”. A young man carried by others from God-knows-where, bleeding from a bullet wound.  Tarek snapped into doctor mode, and started to work doing emergency response, trying to save lives, while John did video documentation, shooting a record of the carnage that was unfolding. The wounded and dying never stopped coming.  Between us, we saw over fifty Egyptians die: students, workers, professionals, professors, all shapes, all ages, unarmed. We later learned the body count for the day was 102. We left in the evening when it was safe, trying to get back to our hotel on the Nile. We stopped for ice cream. We couldn't find a way through the police cordon though, and finally asked for help at a checkpoint. That's when we were: arrested, searched, caged, questioned, interrogated, videotaped with a 'Syrian terrorist', slapped, beaten, ridiculed, hot-boxed, refused phone calls, stripped, shaved bald, accused of being foreign mercenaries. Was it our Canadian passports, or the footage of Tarek performing CPR, or our ice cream wrappers that set them off?" ___ On Friday August 16th, Tarek Loubani, a Canadian emergency physician and John Greyson, a Canadian filmmaker and professor were arrested by Egyptian authorities. Tarek and John were on their way to Gaza --  where Tarek was to work at Al Shifa Hospital, and John to explore the possibility of making a film about the work. Days later, Tarek and John are still being held in Cairo's Tora prison.Egyptian officials have given no clear reason for their arrest.  In fact, a recent press release by a Cairo district prosecution states that 9 foreigners, including John and Tarek, will be detained for 15 days, pending investigations.  Egypt is going through a turbulent time, and after hundreds were killed in violent clashes last week, foreigners, particularly journalists are being targeted. We need to get our friends out of there. On Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on Egyptian authorities to "release all evidence" against Tarek and John, but we believe it will take ongoing public outcry in order to force the Canadian and Egyptian Governments to find a resolution and secure their freedom. Family and friends are worried sick about their safety. Pressure from the Canadian government is our best hope. We must pressure our government to demand their freedom and pressure the Egyptian authorities to let them go.  Thank you for your action on this urgent matter!Here's how you can help: 1. Please sign the petition below. An automatic email will be sent to Prime Minister Harper, Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird and the Egyptian Embassy in Ottawa. 2. Please phone and email your MP by searching your postal code here. We strongly encourage you to include a personal message, especially if you know Tarek or John personally or professionally. 3. If you're on Twitter, please use the hashtag #FreeTarekandJohn and tweet your elected officials.4. Join this Facebook group or check out http://tarekandjohn.com for updates on their whereabouts and how you can help. 5. Please help us flood the phonelines for the Egyptian embassy in Ottawa, the Egyptian consulate in Montreal as well as John Baird and Stephen Harper.6. For media inquiries, please contact Justin Podur at 416-407-7795 or justin@podur.orgRelevant contacts:  Egyptian Embassy, Ottawa, Canada: +1-613-234-4931, +1-613-234-4935  egyptemb@sympatico.ca Egyptian Consulate General, Montreal, Canada: +1-514-8668455; +1-514-8668456; +1-514-8668457; egypt.consulate@videotron.ca John Baird – Minister of Foreign Affairs Canada, 613-990-7720, bairdj@parl.gc.ca@honjohnbaird Department of Foreign Affairs Canada: @DFATDCanada Stephen Harper – Prime Minister of Canada; Phone: 613-992-4211; Email: stephen.harper@parl.gc.ca For our US friends: Egyptian Embassy in the US: embassy@egyptembassy.net **Update: Canadian officials have made contact with Tarek and John although it is still unknown why they are being detained. Read a statement from the families here: http://podur.org/node/1023 **

PAS DE TAXES SUR MES TAMPONS! La pétition en français.Remember to print, sign and send in a hard copy of the petition in English or in French. Did you know that households across Canada are paying GST on menstrual hygiene products? According to the Government of Canada all menstrual hygiene products are considered a non-essential item or luxury. To add insult to injury, items like incontinence products(1), cocktail cherries(2), human sperm(3), and wedding cakes(4) are not subject to GST. But we all know that buying tampons, pads, moon/diva cups, or panty liners is not optional. These products are an essential part of a normal, public life for people with periods. Member of Parliament Irene Mathyssen introduced Bill C-282, An Act to amend the Excise Tax Act (feminine hygiene products), on October 16, 2013. Sign this petition and send a letter to our parliamentarians to show your support for Bill C-282 and that you disagree with this archaic taxation. You won’t even know it’s there. It’s rare to check your grocery bill for how much GST you’ve paid on each individual purchase. So taxes on menstrual hygiene products often go unnoticed. Though GST has decreased from 7% to 5% across the board, people with periods are still unfairly paying into the system. In 2014, it’s estimated that approximately 17,876,392 Canadian women between the ages of 12–49 spent about $519,976,963.00 on menstrual hygiene products.(5) That means the government collected approximately $36,398,387.00 in government sales taxes because our uteruses did what they do naturally.(6) Our government makes money off of our bodies. Don’t tax periods—period. A small tax on tampons/pads/panty liners/menstrual cups adds up when combined with the systemic challenges many women, trans people, genderqueer people, and other menstruators face in terms of their income, housing, and economic stability. This has been a longstanding argument of government critics. When a similar bill was brought to the floor in 2004, Member of Parliament Judy Wasylycia-Leis said, “The GST on tampons and sanitary napkins amounts to gender-based taxation. The taxing of essential and necessary products used exclusively by women is unfair and discriminatory. It unfairly disadvantages women (7) financially, solely because of our reproductive role. The bill would benefit all Canadian women at some point in their lives and would be of particular value to lower income women.” (8) We don’t need to go with the flow!  Together, we can call to get rid of this tax. Sign the petition and share it with your friends—let our elected officials know that you won’t stand for this unfair tax any longer. Private members’ bills like Bill C-282, An Act to amend the Excise Tax Act (feminine hygiene products), rarely become law; however, any bill may be brought to second reading if it is the government’s will. Let’s show the Conservative Government what we stand for and demand this bill be passed. Let’s let the government know we are essential! Remember to print, sign and send in a hard copy of the petition. Endnotes: 1. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/gm/4-2/4-2-e.html2. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/gm/4-3/4-3-e.html#_Toc1555861033. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/gm/4-1/4-1-e.html#Human_sperm4. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/gm/4-3/4-3-e.html#_Toc155586103 "The supply of a decorated wedding cake is zero‑rated as long as it is food for human consumption, supplied by the cake decorator, and it weighs at least 230 grams. The supply of a decorated artificial cake that is not for human consumption (e.g., the cake is made of Styrofoam) is subject to GST/HST at the rate of 5% or 13%. However, if the decorated cake is a combination of artificial and real cake layers, the entire wedding cake is zero‑rated as long as at least one of the layers is real cake supplied by the decorator, and it weighs at least 230 grams."5. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8Lv8WrttkkjaG1BUlJaZkxLMzA/view?usp=sharing6. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8Lv8WrttkkjaG1BUlJaZkxLMzA/view?usp=sharing7. We echo the passion which Judy brings to the issue and want to push this bill forward to the benefit all who menstruate.8. Hansard – 12-13-04 – Introduction of PMB to exempt feminine hygiene products from GST

I make less money than the person who sits next to me for doing the same work, just because I’m a woman. Why does this happen? I can’t find affordable daycare for my family, so someone has to stay at home to look after the kids.  What if we both want to go back to work? It feels like I am seeing story after story on the news about Indigenous women disappearing and being murdered. What can be done to end the violence? What if we could work together to make sure these questions - and more - are put directly to our political leaders?  These issues impact families and communities. They matter to Canadians from across the country. And they are issues that politicians are not talking about! Imagine if before choosing our next government this October, we could make sure that every party leader spoke about issues affecting women and girls. We can make that happen! Together, we’re calling for an all party nationally broadcast leaders debate on issues that affect women and girls. Up For Debate is an alliance of women’s organizations, community groups and international organizations from across Canada. Over 130 groups have joined Up for Debate because we have one thing in common: we believe in equality between men and women, and we want every Canadian to know where our political leaders stand on gender equality. No matter who you vote for or what party you support, gender inequality impacts us all. It’s in every Canadian’s interest to know where the federal leaders stand on all kind of issues from discrimination to violence, leadership, employment, sexual harassment or child care. That’s why we’ve launched a petition calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and Bloc Quebecois leader Mario Beaulieu to participate in a nationally broadcast leader’s debate on issues affecting women and girls. Please sign, and spread the word so that all parties will speak to Canadians about women’s rights. Here’s who we are: www.upfordebate.ca/who-we-are And here’s our vision: www.upfordebate.ca/our-vision Help us make it happen! Spread the word on Facebook and Twitter. You can check out the last time federal leaders debated women’s issues here: 1984 Debate. Version française

I am an emergency nurse who has served in many humanitarian medical aid missions in the Middle East. I have lately spent 3 months providing care in Syria during the crisis. I have witnessed the unspeakable atrocities of the war in Syria firsthand. I’ve seen the terrible suffering and displacement that is happening everyday and I know that Canada is not doing enough to help civilians find safety here within our borders. That’s why I started this petition. I want to know what the party leaders running in the upcoming election intend to do to help Syrian refugees. I am asking them to commit to accepting and admitting 10,000 Syrian refugees into Canada by December 31, 2015. The Syrian war has been ongoing for more than 4 years now. More than 240,000 Syrians, mostly civilians, have lost their lives. The war and the political oppression have resulted in the displacement of more than 11 million, internally and externally. The modern world has not witnessed such an immense influx of refugees since the second world war. This is an international humanitarian crisis in every sense of the word. Canada, the country of human rights and freedoms, has admitted less than 1500 Syrian refugees since the crisis began in 2011. Given the millions out there, this is simply NOT enough. The current government has pledged to bring in more refugees but little has actually been done. We are talking about hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, including women and children, who are in desperate need of food, shelter, and above all, in desperate need of a peaceful place to live. Historically speaking, Canada has always taken a solid and proactive stance on humanitarian action and has stepped in to take in refugees of war and political oppression. So I keep wondering, what is stopping Canada now? Countries like Turkey, Lebanon, Germany and Sweden (to mention few) have all stepped in and taken in a large number of refugees. So why is Canada in stand-by mode? The situation is very dire and cannot wait any longer! This is a massive humanitarian crisis that requires Canada to act, and act immediately and at a large scale. Millions of displaced civilians are in need of a peaceful place to live, and in need of it now, not next year or the year after. Unless we act, history will remember us as the nation who witnessed the atrocities of war, but chose to stand by and watch as the Syrian refugees desperately tried to flee to lands of peace. This is not who we are as Canadian. We are the country of humanitarian zeal and we value human life above all. So let us be true to our values: open our country to the Syrian refugees. We promise we will open our hearts and homes to them. Please sign and share my petition to add your voice to this call to action.

UPDATE AUGUST 19, 2015: Since the federal election has been called, the leaders of all 5 political parties are now potential decision makers and have been added to this petition. In the wake of the recent oil spill in English Bay, it is more apparent than ever that the Kitsilano Coast Guard Base provided an essential service to Vancouver.  It was not just a rescue boat station, but  a command and control and response center, with the ability to aid in situations from oil spills, natural disasters, and even terrorism. The closure of this base has saved the Federal Government a mere $700,000 per year.  That amount is a drop in an ocean of what the Federal Government spends on other things, including advertising.  How can a price be put on a life, or on the environmental impact things like oil spills have on our waters and community? The buildings are still standing, they haven't been torn down.  They could easily be re-staffed.  This is a resource that is not superfluous and redundant.  It must be re-opened.       "Vancouver Courier" image 

Horses from Canada and the US are enduring incredible suffering as you read this. They are being packed into trucks and hauled,sometimes very long distances to one of 4 federally run slaughter plants in Canada, designed for killing cattle, not horses. They are often gravely injured, at times even dead upon arrival, and due to their flight nature, the suffering and terror continues for these poor souls up until the very end which is all too frequently prolonged and so dangerous that even inspectors do not want to be present for fear of injury.Horses are extremely sensitive animals, are aware of danger and in a state of panic they thrash about and move their heads away from the workers, making a clean kill practically impossible. There is overwhelming evidence in the form of both video and witness accounts to verify that horse slaughter is indeed cruel and inhumane. Horses are not food animals,however many people are under the misconception that slaughtering horses is no different than slaughtering cattle and pigs. The treatment and slaughtering of food animals is definitely in need of reform and changes as well, but the cruelty and suffering does not compare to what horses endure--these are mostly animals that have shared their lives with people. They are companion animals, working, entertainment and pleasure riding horses.. and then there are the wild horses--Yes wild horses--something our country should treasure and be proud of, but instead our government is sponsoring round ups of these magnificent creatures and dooming them to an imprisoned and torturous end! The horses waiting in slaughter stockyards, often in horrendous conditions are of all breeds and ages, from the very young, the pregnant, the old--even ponies,donkeys and burros. Also, most domestic horses have medication in their bloodstream that is banned in animals slaughtered for food--this is not being monitored because if it was most of these horses would not be approved for slaughter. This is Canada's dirty little secret - and the Conservative government seems quite happy to keep it that way.They are not listening!! We want to let our Government know that Canadians care about our horses --this country was built with horses and it is an outrage to mistreat them like this--they deserve so much better. Please sign and urge the Canadian Government to end horse slaughter and adopt bill C-322. FRENCH-- Les chevaux du Canada et des États-Unis souffrent incroyablement au moment où vous lisez ceci. Ils sont transportés, entassés les uns sur les autres dans des camions, sur de très grandes distances à l’un des quatre abattoirs fédérales au Canada, conçu pour abattre le bétail et non les chevaux. Ils sont souvent gravement blessés et parfois même morts avant d’arriver à destination. En raison de leur nature, la souffrance et la terreur persécutent ces pauvres âmes jusqu'à fin du trajet qui est bien trop souvent prolongé et si dangereux que même les inspecteurs ne veulent pas être présent de peur de voir des blessures atroces. Les chevaux sont des animaux extrêmement sensibles, et conscients du danger. En état de panique, ils se débattent et reculent leurs têtes tant ils peuvent être agités, ce qui fait qu’il est impossible de leur mettre une balle dans la tête comme la règlement le prévoit. Les preuves sont accablantes tant sur les vidéos que l’on peut voir ou encore par les témoignages de personnes clés. Il est indéniable que l’abattage des chevaux est cruel et inhumain. Les chevaux ne sont pas des animaux propres à la consommation humaine. Néanmoins, nombreux sont ceux qui croient à tort qu’abattre un cheval est la même chose que d’abattre un bœuf ou un porc. Les méthodes et procédures dans les abattoirs doivent être repensées sans aucun doute. Une réforme s’impose. Les chevaux de compagnie, de travail, de loisirs et de plaisir, sans oublier les chevaux sauvages devraient être protégés fièrement par notre gouvernement au lieu d’encourager l’hippophagie en gardant les abattoirs fédéraux ouverts. Les chevaux qui attendent dans les parcs d’engraissements non loin de la boîte de la mort, souvent dans des conditions atroces, sont de tous âges et de toutes les races, en commençant par le poulin jusqu’à la jument pleine sans parler des vieux chevaux, poneys et des ânes. Aussi, les chevaux domestiqués ont ingéré des médicaments qui restent dans le sang. Ces substances sont interdites et dangereuses pour la consommation humaine. Comme ces substances ne peuvent pas toutes être proprement retracées dans les chevaux que l’on envoie aux abattoirs, ces chevaux deviennent impropres à la consommation humaine. C'est un secret de polichinelle, mais le gouvernement conservateur ne veut surtout avouer ce phénomène. Nous souhaitons laisser savoir au gouvernement que les Canadiens ont beaucoup d’affection pour les chevaux. Les chevaux font partie de notre histoire et il est inconcevable de les traiter de la sorte. Ils ont le droit à un bien meilleur traitement. Apportez votre soutien au projet de loi C-322 en signant dès aujourd’hui.

We the undersigned support the many migrant workers who are facing deportation because of this unjust law, as described below. We have read and understood the implications of these cruel changes and demand that they be ended, and that the thousands currently facing deportation be landed as permanent residents in Canada. Those arriving in the future must have a right to permanent status on arrival. Nous, soussignés, soutenons les nombreux travailleurs migrants qui sont confrontés à la déportation en raison de cette loi injuste, comme décrit ci-dessous. Nous avons lu et compris les implications de ce cruelle programme et nous demandons qu'il soit terminé, et que les milliers actuellement confrontés à la déportation soient accordés la résidence permanente au Canada. Ceux qui arrivent en futur doivent avoir le droit à un statut permanent à l'arrivée. S'il vous plaît signer et partager cette pétition.  My name is -----, I am a migrant worker employed under Canada’s temporary foreign workers program. I work under the ‘low-waged temporary foreign worker’ scheme, a Federal Government program that ties me to an employer, denies me the opportunity to work for another employer and excludes me from many protections that other workers enjoy. I paid tens of thousands of dollars to work at my minimum wage job. I came to Canada to provide an opportunity for my family so that my children can go to school and have a better life. However, on April 01, 2015, the Federal Government will take away my ability to work. This is because the ‘four and four’ rule will come into effect. All low-waged temporary workers like myself as well as migrants employed under the Live-In Caregiver streams who have worked in Canada for more than four years will be banned from working and forced to leave. Tens of thousands of migrants will lose their job. This is one of the largest deportations in Canadian history. Please sign this petition by migrant workers and you, our supporters, to urge the Federal goverment to meet the following demands:  1.  An end to the 4 & 4 rule so migrant workers can continue to work here. 2.  Grant migrant workers in Canada permanent residency. 3.  Ensure migrant worker access to all social benefits and entitlements  4.  Enact legislation to grant permanent residency for all migrants upon arrival. I and the hundreds of migrant workers, and community advocates who have been raising the alarm bells on the program are urging you to take a stand against this mass deportation order. We want meaningful changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker program that levels the playing field so we can work with dignity and pride. The temporary foreign program in its current form is flawed and only provides a pathway to precariousness. We migrant workers know that government policies divide Canadian and migrant workers. Popular myths that migrant workers are stealing jobs and driving down wages of Canadian workers are untrue. The problem is with provincial laws that allow us to be paid less, and deny us real protection to ask for our rights. The solution is not to get rid of us, it is for all of us to work together to ensure no one is paid less than they need to live, and everyone can demand and win their rights.  ----- Get more information, and get involved at www.no4and4.tumblr.com