Stephen Harris of Newfoundland has the petition up and running. And Tracey Ferguson of Victoria 9/11 Truth has provided us with a letter to mail out to MPs (see the discussion thread “Letter for MPs” in this website’s forum). Next, Tracey has said that she will provide us with a press release announcing the letter to MPs.
Thus we have the beginnings of a cross-Canada coalition of truthers, appropriately linked now by Stephen and Tracey on opposite sides of the country.
So let's talk about the next stage in the strategy for the petition and the March on Ottawa, to happen on 9/11/08. Without a sustained strategy, our enthusiasm will carry us only so far, and the petition will stall at fewer than 1,000 signatures. I think that the major Canadian cities could easily get 100,000 signatures each if such targets are set and a path is mapped to get there.
We can perhaps break our task into three categories: (1) focusing; (2) petitioning; (2) alerting the media and politicians.
(1) Focusing: this process has already begun and has involved:
• choosing to emphasize the need for an investigation into 9/11 rather than being sidetracked into debates about the effects of 9/11 (such as the war in Afghanistan)
• tying the petition to the March on Ottawa, thus giving the petition a deadline and an immediate purpose
• organizing mailings to MPs and letters to newspaper editors well in advance of the March on Ottawa on 9/11/08 so that the issue becomes part of the public dialogue
(2) Petitioning: here, I list some strategies to be considered, and I invite you all to add to the list and to share your experiences (what works and doesn’t) over the months ahead:
• encourage anyone who signs: (i) to make sure that at least one other person signs; and (ii) to ask that other person to do the same … and so on
• print up business cards with the petition’s website (canadawantsthetruth911.blogspot.com) and hand them out liberally or ask a local video store, book store, or coffee shop to keep some on the counter
• take the petition to the streets and get written signatures in whatever ways you can, for example: (i) set up a video demonstration similar to what the Montreal truthers did in the subway to attract attention and distribute petition info, 9/11 info sheets, DVDs, and/or copies of the letter to MPs; (ii) set up a public open-air screening of Loose Change or 9/11 Mysteries (as some groups have done in the US) to attract the attention of people who would not normally be exposed to the truth about 9/11
• covert the petition page to a PDF, print it, and post it all over university campus bulletin boards
• e-mail everyone the link to the petition and march promo video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZGXOygsANg• post word about the petition on your facebook page
• do mass e-mailings to friends and family … and follow up, answering questions patiently and remembering that for some the idea that 9/11 was an inside job is still cause for denial and anger at the messenger
(3) Alerting the media and politicians: this will need to be an ongoing effort and will involve follow-up, but initially:
• each truth chapter can organize an e-mailing of the letter to MPs, as the Victoria and Vancouver groups have done
• letters to the editor can be sent from all regions of the country (I have started a list of short letters; see the discussion thread “Collection of Media Contacts” in this website’s forum)
• any freelance writers/journalists among us might consider pitching a feature story (one possible angle is the phenomenon of Loose Change, which has screened in New Zealand and Australia)
• don’t rule out student newspapers as possible places to publish feature stories with an angle that allows you to document the truth of 9/11
There is, of course, a fourth task to be undertaken: organizing the March on Ottawa. But that is something that we can start to think about even as late as the spring. For now, we need to work steadily to push this petition into the popular consciousness.
In knowledge,
RSL
