Democracy is participatory in nature. The collective total of the actions of thousands of individuals has a forceful total effect.

We cannot assume that someone else will take action. Each one of us needs to take action in our own small way.

The most important action you can take, is to offer only minimum cooperation with the May 2011 Canada Census. Most of this website deals with minimum cooperation.

In addition, we should all make some noise about the harm deep integration with the United States will do to Canada, our way of life, and our values. About the erosion of our personal privacy and civil liberties.

For starters, why not take ten minutes to send some e-mails right now. They don't have to be long. If you just want to say that you are only giving minimum cooperation to the 2011 Canada Census because of the partial contracting out of the Census to Lockheed Martin (Canada) Corp under free trade, that is fine. It's best not to state flatly that you refuse to do the census. Short and to the point is effective. It's ten minutes well invested.

Click here to send an e-mail to Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Click here to send an e-mail to Industry Minister Christian Paradis

Click here to send an e-mail to Opposition Leader Jack Layton

Click here to send an e-mail to Chief Statistician Wayne Smith

The Privacy Commissioner recently stated that she had received only a few privacy complaints about the Census. So send her a short complaint. Since formal complaints are only accepted by postal mail, indicate that you are making an informal complaint:

Click here to send an e-mail to Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart

An e-mail or Fax to your local Member of Parliament is important, because they need your vote. The directory of MPs can be found by clicking here

Another effective tool is to make an appointment to meet with your local MP at his/her constituency office. Most people booking appointments have very specific self-interest concerns like delayed passports, sponsoring a family member's immigration, etc. Very few people book an appointment to talk about the issues that they feel are important, so most MPs welcome an issue-orientated discussion. Even if you end up agreeing to disagree, the time has been well spent. There is no substitute for face-to-face communication.

Why not send a letter-to-the-editor of a few of your local newspapers, informing Canadians about your concerns about the outsourcing of the Census software and hardware to the subsidiary of US arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

If you are a member of a local club or organization, raise the Census issue within that organization. Ask the organization to endorse CountMeOut.ca

Click Contact Us if you have other neat action ideas

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