Thousands expected to raise their voices for a Financial Transactions Tax both in the streets and online.
Ottawa (19 May 2010) - This May 19th has been declared a National Day of Action on the Financial Transactions Tax (also referred to as the Robin Hood Tax).
Members of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) will be joining with activists from Oxfam, Results in Montreal and the Canadian Union of Public Employees to make their voices heard on the streets and online.
The protests are seen as being even more important as the Prime Minister is engaged in a high profile effort to derail discussion of the Robin Hood Tax at the upcoming G8/G20 meetings in Canada.
There are activities taking place in communities across Canada. Below is a list of events:
St. John's
News conference with Bill Hynd (Outreach Officer, Oxfam Canada), Rev. Marion Davis, Wayne Davis (Canadian Union of Public Employees), and Adam Daniels (Resource Coordinator, Canadian Federation of Students). Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador’s chapter of Oxfam will perform a tug-of-war pitting bankers against crucial public services at 11 a.m. in the choir room of the Gower St. United Church.
Halifax
Tug-of-war between public services and bankers/politicians at noon in front of the BMO building on George St., corner of Hollis.
Ottawa
Tug-of-war between public services and bankers/politicians on the platform in front of the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill at 1 p.m. With Oxfam Canada Policy Coordinator Mark Fried.
Toronto
Tug-of-war in Metro Hall Square, 10 a.m.
Saskatoon
Redistribution of wealth with Robin Hood, bankers and public services at the corner of 1st Ave. and 21st St., 12.30 p.m.
Vancouver
Tug-of-war near the TD Tower on Granville St. near West Georgia at noon; with Oxfam Canada Executive Director Robert Fox.
The virtual protest
Online supporters of the campaign - many of whom are already following on twitter or have signed up as e-volunteers members of the Facebook group - are being asked to participate in TWENTY FOUR HOURS FOR THE TAX.
The notice sent out to members of the Facebook group states that "Stephen Harper is mobilizing his people against a tax on financial transactions, by sending henchmen around the globe to try to squash the tax’s popular international support.
"He’s stepping up his campaign, so we have to step up ours. Which is exactly what we are going to do. At 6:00 am today we're launching 24 Hours For The Tax, a national day of action.
"We have 5 simple ways you can help to push this campaign forward in the next 24 hours."
A TAKE ACTION page has been created that helps people to:
- Change their Facebook/Twitter profile pictures to a TWENTY FOUR HOURS FOR THE TAX graphic (graphic provided).
- Change their Facebook/Twitter statuses every hour to another reason why they are supporting the tax, using reasons we provide. (We'll provide 24 different reasons. Folks can just come in at whatever time it is when they start, and can post as many as they want. This will give keep the campaign on the twitter radar all day).
- Post a TWENTY FOUR HOURS FOR THE TAX banner in their blogs and write an update about the global day of action.
- Make an after-hours call to Stephen Harper's office, leaving a voice mail message in support of the tax.
- Write a letter to the editor in response to recent anti-tax coverage.
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE
More information:
• Robin Hood Tax
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