Ottawa 2011-11-10 newsletter

=November 10th, 2011 Newsletter=

Ottawa Pirates,

It’s been two busy weeks on the Federal scene since my last update. In this week’s e-mail, I cover:


 * 1) 	Minutes from November 1st Meeting
 * 2) 	Upcoming November 15th Meeting
 * 3) 	Upcoming November 29th Meeting
 * 4) 	PPCA Constitution Update
 * 5) 	The Crime Omnibus
 * 6) 	Surveillance in Syria
 * 7) 	Donations

As always, if you no longer wish to receive these e-mails, or if you have received them in error, please contact me via e-mail at shawngray@pirateparty.ca

Minutes from November 1st Meeting
Our local PPCA meeting that occurred on November 1st allowed us not only a conversation with Student Journalist Kate Wilkinson of Carleton University, it also gave those attending an excellent opportunity to discuss many different subjects falling under four main headings of Advertising, PPCA Constitution Developments, Possible Platform Points, and Pirate Party of Ontario. For additional details on the topics discussed, please take the time to review the minutes on the PPCA Wiki (direct link: http://wiki.pirateparty.ca/index.php/Ottawa_2011-11-01_minutes ).

Upcoming November 15th Meeting
November 15th will mark our next PPCA Ottawa get-together. As usual we will be meeting at the Tim Hortons located on the corner of Metcalfe and Slater. The meeting will begin at 7:00pm and end no later than 9:00pm. Feel free to reply if you’re coming, or if there’s a particular topic you would like to discuss: shawngray@pirateparty.ca. Just look for the Pirate Party of Canada sticker on book bags and file folders. There will be additional stickers available at the meeting if you would like a few.

Upcoming November 29th Meeting
Not able to make it on November 15th? Don’t worry, we have another meeting scheduled for Tuesday November 29th from 7:00pm – 9:00pm at the Tim Hortons on the corner of Metcalfe & Albert. We meet up at least once every second Tuesday, so it’s easy to meet up and introduce yourself.

PPCA Constitution Update
PPCA Leader, Mikkel Paulson, is writing, or has written the introductory letter for the vote on the PPCA Constitution. It should be sent out to everyone with an active membership sometime in the next few days. I would highly recommend reading over ( http://crm.pirateparty.ca/bylaws )and approving the constitution. Any changes or amendments that you deem necessary are easier to put in place after the framework has passed than under the current framework. The new constitution will help us overcome a lot of the hurdles that we’ve had administratively this past year, helping to push the party into a more active format.

As mentioned previously, the passage of the new constitution will kick off internal elections. So if you want to be a heavyweight within the party, now is the time to start preparing your election materials, increasing your activity in the party forums, and engaging members in our IRC channel.

The Crime Omnibus
Bill C-10, The Safe Streets and Communities Act, is currently being pushed through parliament. The bill is greatly lacking in research and common sense, as it plans to create mandatory sentences for minor crimes that are more severe than those given for pedophilia. The bill promises to build prisons, increase and lengthen incarceration periods, prevent people from contributing to the economic welfare of the country, clog up our justice system with trials for minor offences, and cost taxpayers like you and I a whole lot of money.

A short article on “Through the Eyes of A Pirate” (http://shawngray.ca/?p=1174 ) has a little bit more information on the bill, as well as a list of ways that you can get involved, including printing out and completing a petition. In addition, if you would like to write a letter to the editor of any local (or national) newspapers, Results Canada has a nifty application that makes that very easy to accomplish (http://results-resultats.ca/Tools/LetterToEditor_eng.asp ).

Surveillance in Syria
Syria is currently in the process of establishing the world’s most sophisticated online tracking and surveillance system. Numerous Western companies have been assisting in the development and implementation of their surveillance equipment, which is being used to assist Syrian “security forces” in their door-to-door hunt for activists. Human rights activists have been deliberately targeted by security forces and make up a large portion of the 3,500 people that have been killed since March.

The CEOs of Area, NetApp, Qosmos and Utimaco, the four companies responsible for putting together the network are becoming concerned about these activities, and only need a small push to help them decide to pull out of the project. This privacy issue greatly concerns the Pirate Party of Canada, as well as Pirate Parties International, our umbrella association. To assist in pushing these CEOs out of Syrian Surveillance, please check out AccessNow to send a letter where it can be heard ( https://www.accessnow.org/stop-syrian-surveillance )

Donations
As always, the Pirate Party of Canada is funded entirely by donations from our members and concerned individuals. Without funding from the membership, it isn’t possible to run advertising campaigns to bring attention to issues relating to our core values of personal privacy, government and corporate transparency, cultural freedoms and human rights. All donations are tax deductible, so any donations are substantially paid back at the end of fiscal year. To donate today, please visit the donation page on the PPCA website ( https://crm.pirateparty.ca/contribute.php )

Sincerely,

Shawn Gray OCT Pirate Party of Canada Director-at-Large http://www.pirateparty.ca 1-877-850-2194 ext *120

=November 11th, 2011 Newsletter Correction=

Ottawa Pirates,

I would like to apologize. There was an error in the e-mail sent yesterday. The correct web address for the proposed new PPCA Constitution should be https://crm.pirateparty.ca/bylaws. I apologize for any confusion this may have caused and would like to thank Owen for pointing out the error. As always, if you have any questions feel free to contact me via e-mail at shawngray@pirateparty.ca.

Sincerely,

Shawn Gray OCT Pirate Party of Canada Director-at-Large http://www.pirateparty.ca 1-877-850-2194 ext *120

Return to Ottawa Meetings