If you would give $7 each month to stop Harper’s war in Iraq, click here

Dear Ceasefire.ca supporter,

With little or no thought of the consequences and impact, of the destruction and chaos, or even of the death and mayhem… Stephen Harper has dragged Canada into an American war.

The coalition led by the Americans includes governments of countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates who are viciously repressing any peaceful dissent in their own countries under the guise of the “war on terror.”

It’s the Iraq quagmire all over again – and it seems that Harper has learned nothing in the meantime.

The disastrous American invasion of Iraq back in 2003, which Stephen Harper as Opposition Leader was eager to support, paved the way for extremists like ISIL to flourish, as never before.

Canada was wise to stay out of that war… but now, our fighter-bomber jets are dropping more bombs on Iraq under the American-led military campaign.

There has been absolutely no authorization from the United Nations. And this is such an ill-thought-out scheme that even NATO would not agree to support the American war plans!

How long will it be before we kill innocent civilians? Or will Harper try to keep such disastrous information secret? Will he stop at nothing to protect his war? Because he knows the vast majority of Canadians are very leery of going to war.

Together we have challenged Harper’s pro-war lobbyists at every turn and I am grateful for all of your support… but it’s not over and I need your help right now.

I hope you’ll join me and oppose this endless war that breeds more violence and hatred.

Please make a special contribution of $7 each month, or a special donation of $45. Your donation will allow us to continue our work to stop Harper’s war in Iraq.

https://www.ceasefire.ca/donate

When Canada announced it was sending our secretive special forces troops as “advisors” and “trainers” to Iraq in September, we created the Iraq Action Fund, and together, Ceasefire.ca supporters raised over $5,000 to mobilize against the war. That’s amazing!

We used those donations to send thousands of letters from Ceasefire.ca supporters to Harper, all the party leaders, and even local MPs to keep troops out of Iraq.

It had a huge effect… it helped ensure the Conservatives had no support in Parliament for war. The other parties spoke for the majority of Canadians.

But now we have to rebuild our Iraq Action Fund to help stop the bombing and ensure Canada does not commit ground troops to this quagmire.

Can you help by joining our Peacekeepers sustaining members club and making a regular donation of $7 each month?

I am so proud to be part of the Rideau Institute. Our new President, former Ambassador Peggy Mason, is showing leadership in Canada by calling for an end to the bombing, and demanding international action to end the conflict and rein in the extremist groups.

Her growing influence in Ottawa in just a few months since taking the leadership role at the Rideau Institute gives me great hope. Peggy has appeared on national TV and CBC national radio, and is consulted by MPs regularly. She is speaking up for all of us!

On the day Parliament debated to deploy troops and warplanes, I was carefully watching the speeches from the party leaders. All of the opposition parties spoke against the war.

But, when NDP leader Thomas Mulcair spoke, I suddenly heard him mention the Rideau Institute – and what he did next was amazing…

From beginning to end, Mulcair read Peggy Mason’s full article speaking against the war to the entire House of Commons.

When you read it you’ll see the fantastic work your donations are supporting.

I’m confident it was Peggy’s work, along with your support, that helped ensure all the opposition Parties voted against Harper’s war.

Your gift allowed us to mount a sophisticated lobbying, media and mobilization campaign… and Harper’s pro-war backers are furious with us.

One of the loudest mouthpieces for Harper’s pro-war lobby is Ottawa Citizen columnist Terry Glavin. Once considered progressive, he now glorifies war and savagely attacks the peace movement.

Glavin slammed Thomas Mulcair for quoting the “consistently ridiculous Rideau Institute, whose president, Peggy Mason, Mulcair cited severally and approvingly.”

And then Terry Glavin went way too far…

He blamed Jack Layton and his beautiful peace legacy for the ISIL extremists’ bloodshed.

That’s right… Glavin ignorantly blames the late Jack Layton for Canada ending its war in Afghanistan and the West for not invading Syria and other countries.

It’s disgusting how far Harper’s pro-war lobbyists will go…  they’ll viciously attack anyone… including peace supporters like you and me.

They use all their power, media and money. But we have something they don’t have… we have a tradition of Canadian peace values on our side…  and I believe we have the vast majority of Canadians supporting us.

So, we continue taking action to spread the word, and to keep up the pressure for peace and social justice.

Recently we asked you and all of our supporters to write letters to the newspapers following the terrible shootings in Ottawa, warning other Canadians that Harper was going to use public concern to hand sweeping new powers to his security forces, which even Harper’s own former legal advisor said were unnecessary.

Within days, more than 250 letters were sent by Ceasefire.ca supporters – and many were printed in newspapers across Canada.

As one Ceasefire.ca supporter said in the National Post,

“Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s admission that his new anti-terror bill was ‘already being drafted,’ suggests that his government had planned to take away our civil liberties all along, not just as a reaction to the recent attack.”

This is our last letter to you for the year, and we need to raise $35,000 to keep our campaigns running.

Since the Iraq war broke out, we have been devoting our resources to our front-line campaigns, but this has left our accounts quite depleted.

That’s why we are asking you to help us to rebuild our Iraq Action Fund to end Harper’s Iraq war, and to use international pressure through the UN to ensure a more lasting peace.

Here is what your gift will pay for.

• We will use your donations to work with any MP and political party that shares our goals of ending the war.
• Your support will be used to work with ethical journalists and opinion-leaders.
• We will be reaching out to Canadians through the Ceasefire.ca community and everywhere on social media to oppose the war.

As one of our most dependable peace supporters, I hope we can count on you to give as generously as possible.

Please send your postcard and consider joining our Peacekeepers sustaining donors club by making a regular gift of $7 each month. If that is not affordable right now, a special one-time gift of $45 would go a long way.

As I mentioned, this is my last letter to you for this year. It’s wonderful to know that we have peace supporters like to you to be able to count on during times of crisis.

Thanks for everything you do for peace,

Steve Staples, Rideau Institute vice-president and Ceasefire.ca co-founder

P.S. Please help us end Canada’s war in Iraq by sending your postcard and making a special donation to our Iraq Action Fund. Join our Peacekeepers sustaining donors club by making a regular gift of $7 each month.

All new Peacekeepers can choose to receive a free copy of Naomi Klein’s newest book, This Changes Everything.