CBOBC has impressive Facebook launchnow expanding its capacity in other areas

With every passing week of Stephen Harper’s destruction of the fabric of our country, more and more Canadians are following the development of the ‘Campaign to Build One Big Campaign’ (CBOBC), hoping that huge campaigns can be developed to take the wind out of the sails of the Conservatives and their corporate allies.

So it’s no surprise that CBOBC has made an impressive debut on Facebook, establishing a potential reach of more than 390,000 people and organizations after only six weeks of operation.

CBOBC has been created by a small group of independent, non-partisan Canadians to work with progressive networks and movements and help with their campaigning to stop the advances of the Harper government and irresponsible corporations.

Even old lefties like me are being pulled out of retirement to stand up for what is right.

The Harper Conservatives and its allies are destroying the heart and foundation of Canada. Unfortunately, the progressive community has not been able to formulate an effective method of fighting continuously employing old tactics such as letter writing which have proven over time to be ineffective.

As an alternative, One Big Campaign will work with all kinds of networks and groups to develop strong, well-thought-out campaigns seldom seen before in the country.  Actions such as the Environmental ‘BlackOutSpeakOut’ not only united several progressive groups, but scared the Harper cronies.

CBOBC feels that the progressive forces are being beaten so badly that we must motivate groups and all Canadians to go all out now. We have no choice. We dare not wait until 2015 – they could split the vote and win again.

A couple of possibilities that come to mind:

• A combination of legal action, civil disobedience, and actions against the government in international forums  just might embarrass the Conservatives to reinstate some of the vital services that Canadians have come to understand as rights. 
• First Nations and western Canadians in the fight against the Northern Gateway pipeline need to be supported by, all organizations with a national coalition that speaks with one voice. A series of effective actions, such as a boycott of some Enbridge services and products, can created be in support.

CBOBC’s first action was the launch of the Facebook page. Everyone is invited to join the often lively discussions on hot topics such as the campaign to stop Enbridge`s Northern Gateway pipeline, the battle over Bill C-38, and the Casseroles demonstrations. We welcome your thoughts on how to move forward.

A key element of the project will be to bring together – for the first time even in any substantial way in Canada – progressive labour organizations and thousands of other progressive groups under one campaigning umbrella. Labour and the progressive/liberal communities in Canada share the same goals and objectives - reducing income disparity, protecting the environment, retirement with respect, adequate health care for all, to name a few. By working together we can develop a very powerful force.

The potential size of a campaigning force for major project is huge. With the involvement of a number of unions, projects relying on mass support could potentially gain the backing of two-million people. In addition, Canada has more than 15,000 progressive and liberal-minded organizations with hundreds of thousands of members.

With a cohesive progressive network, representing Canadians of various backgrounds, major campaigns could be supported by millions of people, with the possibility of surpassing the 5.6-million votes the Conservatives received in the 2011 election.

But not all battles are won just by sheer numbers. Sometimes the best tactic is to develop long-term campaigns that involve boycotting corporate products.  Greenpeace, for example, is campaigning to stop industry poisoning waterways around the world with hazardous, persistent and hormone-disrupting chemicals. Launched in July 2011, the Detox campaign has exposed links between textile manufacturing facilities causing toxic water pollution in China, and many of the world's top clothing brands. So far Nike, Adidas, Puma, H&M, C&A and Li-Ning have committed to Detox, in response to the growing international campaign.  History has proven with previous campaigns that corporations are very sensitive to these types of campaigns.

Our next step will involve creating a high-capacity website that will allow any number of people from across the country to work on it. The site will also feature a Bulletin Board where groups from across the country can post information about their upcoming activities.

The Campaign to build ‘One Big Campaign’ comes to this project carrying no baggage. Our main interest is to create a project that will provide a strong campaigning voice for progressive causes across the country.

At this early development stage we are pretty much a gathering of “No Name” Canadians. (LOL!) But new, hard-working volunteers are being added every week.

The time is now... join the conversation on the Campaign to build ‘One Big Campaign.’ Facebook Page. Tell us what actions you think would be helpful and what burning issues are bothering you.

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