For everyone’s information:
The plan for the 17th, when the adult content ban comes in, is to protest.
To do that, we are making as much noise either side of the 17th as possible, and using the site as normal.
On the 17th, dead silence.
People are saying log off but what they really mean is don’t open the site or the app.
But, on the 17th make as much noise as possible on every other platform. Tweet about it and post on facebook and instagram and everywhere else.
What this does is causes a massive dip in ad revenue for one single day. That does not make staff think ‘oh everyone’s gone let’s shut down.’ What it actually makes them think is ‘oh shit people aren’t happy and if people don’t keep using our site we’re out of money and out of jobs.’
A boycott reminds a company that the users (consumers) have the power to make their site (business) worthless with one single coordinated decision.
If you want to join in, here’s what to do:
Do:
- Close all open instances of the app and site on all your devices before the 17th
- Make posts before and after the 17th on tumblr and other platforms, talking about why this ban is bad
- Make posts on other sites during the 17th. Flood the official tumblr staff twitter and facebook with your anger and your opinion
- Come back on the 18th and check in
Don’t:
- Delete the app from your phone (this doesn’t affect their revenue and since it’s off the store at the moment it’ll be hard to get back)
- Delete your account. I mean you can if you want to, but if you keep your account and don’t use it you’re saying to staff that there’s still time to save it. If you delete it’s hard work to come back.
- Open the app or website (including specific blogs)
- Make any posts (turn down/off your queue and make sure nothing is scheduled)
- Go quiet elsewhere. Make it clear that this is just about tumblr, not a mass move away from all social media.
Remember: the execs don’t care about anything but money. Shutting down the site means there’s $0 further income from it. That’s their last possible course of action. If we make it clear we’re not happy, they’ll have to do something or we can do more and more until it becomes too expensive.
Protests take commitment. They’re a defiant action against a business that is doing something wrong. They will try to scare you into not participating, because they’re scared. We hold all the power here, sometimes the execs just need to be reminded of that.
Tag: time to protest
Within the past two days, both the Ontario Human Rights Commission and the Office of the Independent Police Review Director published reports containing evidence of systemic racism in policing in Toronto and Thunder Bay, and it’s already clear that neither the TPS, TBPS, or their municipal governments have any sense of accountability or desire to create change.
The TPS made a statement dismissing the issue, refusing to admit that their officers assault, shoot, and kill black people at disproportionate rates and instead saying that maybe some black people “feel” that this happens. The TBPS referred to evidence of their racism and callous disregard for Indigenous lives as a “barrier in policing.”
TPS Chief Mark Saunders told the CBC that “when it comes to racism as a whole, it exists everywhere.” Thunder Bay Mayor Bill Mauro said that “it’s true we have our issues but it’s true that all communities have similar issues.” Mike McCormack, the president of the Toronto Police Association, said that we shouldn’t call out the TPS based on “sensationalized” data because every institution is biased and “we deal with it.” These aren’t acknowledgements of the problem, they’re attempts to deflect valid criticism.
None of these people are going to take responsiblity and actually do something unless we force them to. This means calling our city councillors, demanding that the recommendations from the OHRC and OIPRD are accepted, supporting political candidates who aren’t going to sit on their hands, and showing up at police board meetings – the next Toronto Police Services Board meeting is January 18.
Tories’ Bill 66 would undermine clean-water protections that followed Walkerton tragedy, victims and advocates warn
“Do not drink this water,” warned the signs taped to fountains and bathroom sinks in a small Ontario town.
For thousands of people in the rural community 150 kilometres northwest of Toronto, the water they once used to brush their teeth, bathe their children and prepare their meals had become a hostile enemy.
Jugs of clean water had to be delivered to a depot. Hospitals were overrun with new patients. Children were pulled out of school. Businesses closed.
The tainted-water scandal in Walkerton in the spring of 2000 devastated the community, with thousands falling ill and seven people dying. It was one of the worst health epidemics in the province’s history.
Nearly 19 years later, environmental advocates say Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government is posing one of the greatest risks both the environment and public health have faced in decades.
Last week, the government tabled a new piece of legislation, Bill 66, that, if passed, would allow commercial development to bypass several long-standing laws meant to protect the natural environment and the health of residents, including the Clean Water Act that was put in place following the Walkerton tragedy.
For everyone’s information:
The plan for the 17th, when the adult content ban comes in, is to protest.
To do that, we are making as much noise either side of the 17th as possible, and using the site as normal.
On the 17th, dead silence.
People are saying log off but what they really mean is don’t open the site or the app.
But, on the 17th make as much noise as possible on every other platform. Tweet about it and post on facebook and instagram and everywhere else.
What this does is causes a massive dip in ad revenue for one single day. That does not make staff think ‘oh everyone’s gone let’s shut down.’ What it actually makes them think is ‘oh shit people aren’t happy and if people don’t keep using our site we’re out of money and out of jobs.’
A boycott reminds a company that the users (consumers) have the power to make their site (business) worthless with one single coordinated decision.
If you want to join in, here’s what to do:
Do:
- Close all open instances of the app and site on all your devices before the 17th
- Make posts before and after the 17th on tumblr and other platforms, talking about why this ban is bad
- Make posts on other sites during the 17th. Flood the official tumblr staff twitter and facebook with your anger and your opinion
- Come back on the 18th and check in
Don’t:
- Delete the app from your phone (this doesn’t affect their revenue and since it’s off the store at the moment it’ll be hard to get back)
- Delete your account. I mean you can if you want to, but if you keep your account and don’t use it you’re saying to staff that there’s still time to save it. If you delete it’s hard work to come back.
- Open the app or website (including specific blogs)
- Make any posts (turn down/off your queue and make sure nothing is scheduled)
- Go quiet elsewhere. Make it clear that this is just about tumblr, not a mass move away from all social media.
Remember: the execs don’t care about anything but money. Shutting down the site means there’s $0 further income from it. That’s their last possible course of action. If we make it clear we’re not happy, they’ll have to do something or we can do more and more until it becomes too expensive.
Protests take commitment. They’re a defiant action against a business that is doing something wrong. They will try to scare you into not participating, because they’re scared. We hold all the power here, sometimes the execs just need to be reminded of that.
PLEASE PARTICIPATE THIS NEEDS TO BE BIG SO WE NEED TO FOLLOW THROUGH!
Doing this. Who else is in?
I’m in!
Unionized LCBO workers holding informational pickets against privatization
Unionized LCBO workers will be holding information pickets at numerous locations across the city today as they continue to advocate for keeping the Crown corporation public.
The pickets are part of the ‘Keep it Public’ campaign organized by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), which represents about 8,000 LCBO workers.
According to OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas, the campaign is being held to raise awareness about the importance of keeping the LCBO public amid speculation that Premier Doug Ford could privatize some government functions.
“The whole notion of this is to try to keep the LCBO public. We are still worried about Doug Ford either selling it or chopping it up and just giving it away in pieces. The expansion of beer and wine in grocery stores is a concern as well,” Thomas told CP24 on Friday. “I must say we have been going around in different parts of the province and we have been very well received. The people who use the LCBO like it.”
Unionized LCBO workers holding informational pickets against privatization
Youth come to Queen’s Park to beg Ford to restore Ontario’s Child Advocate’s Office
The NDP critic for Children and Youth Services Monique Taylor was joined by young people Thursday, who begged the Ford government to reverse its cruel decision to cut the Ontario Child Advocate’s Office.
“The most vulnerable children and youth in Ontario will be left to fend for themselves,” Taylor said. “When children in care — kids who are supposed to be under the watch of the government — are being abused or hurt, the Child Advocate is where they are supposed to turn. To take that resource away from them is cruel.”
Youth and adults with lived experiences in care, child and youth advocates, and parents packed into the Legislature to express their disgust and concern, and to support the NDP as Taylor questioned the Ford Conservatives on the cut.
“By removing the Child Advocate’s Office, the government will be encouraging the ongoing trend of youth being silenced,” Regan Bucciol, a former youth in care, said. Bucciol was among a group of youth with lived experiences in care who begged the Conservatives to maintain the office that protects children and youth from abuse, holds their abusers accountable and speaks up for vulnerable youth’s physical, emotional and mental health needs.
This morning, a panel of youth stressed the importance of an independent Child Advocate at a packed news conference organized by the Ontario Children’s Advocacy Coalition (OCAC) and Ryerson University’s School of Child & Youth Care.
Ford’s decision “will increase the risk of children falling through the cracks and strip them of their ability to be heard when their safety, health and well-being is at risk,” an OCAC spokesperson said. “Nearly 13,000 children in government care will now have no way to hold guardians like foster homes accountable.”
Youth come to Queen’s Park to beg Ford to restore Ontario’s Child Advocate’s Office
The Ontario Child Advocate Was The One Safe Space For Vulnerable Kids. Then Doug Ford Cut The Office
As Ontario’s Child Advocate Irwin Elman tucked his pink slip into his pocket, and his office staff dumped desk drawers into boxes, I wonder if Doug Ford and his PC party patted themselves on the back for money saved. It appears Ontarians will be drinking their cheap beer at the expense of vulnerable children and youth.
Foster children, Indigenous children, disabled children, abused children — collectively a group most Canadians would wish to protect and champion — have been thrown under the bus in a reprehensible wielding of political power. Last Friday, the Conservatives repealed the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth Act, 2007 as part of their fall economic statement, stripping these children of the one person guaranteed to be in their corner: The Ontario Child Advocate.
Not beholden to any agency or government, the child advocate (a position held by Irwin Elman since 2008) educates youth on their rights and pushes for action on their behalf. Because the office reports to the legislature, it remains independent. Most provinces have one, but now Canada’s most populated province has lost theirs. Although some people may not be familiar with the role of the child advocate, even those who have never had personal contact with the children who might need it would be left scratching their heads as to why kids in jeopardy have been targeted by the PC government.
With Children’s Aid Societies having limited oversight, the Advocate’s office was the one safe place where foster children could turn to report abuse within the system. For youth with mental health issues who have found themselves in the criminal justice system, the child advocate could push for a plan of care so they didn’t end up spiralling in the system. For blindsided parents who’d adopted children with severe special needs, the advocate helped their children receive critical services. The office called for mandatory inquests into the deaths of children in foster care and demanded rights for Indigenous youth. The advocate was the voice for the voiceless. Why did Doug Ford want that silenced?
The Ontario Child Advocate Was The One Safe Space For Vulnerable Kids. Then Doug Ford Cut The Office
Senate postpones Canada Post back-to-work legislation decision until Monday
The Senate opted to push a final decision on the government’s proposed Canada Post back-to-work legislation to Monday, after hours of debate and witness testimony.
Senators were prepared to sit on Sunday, if necessary, but after nearly eight hours of witness testimony and debate, they decided to reschedule the third and final reading of Bill C-89 for Monday afternoon.
That means back-to-work legislation could come into effect as early as Tuesday afternoon, if the legislation is passed on Monday.
The rare weekend sitting saw intense discussions about the government’s motivation for forcing workers back to their jobs, partisan quips and concerns over violations of charter rights.
The controversial bill, if passed, would go into effect at noon ET on the day following royal assent.
Canadian Senators are voting on this draconian back to work legislation monday. It can fail to pass into law if Senators vote against it.
Contact your senators now.
Contact Senators here:
https://sencanada.ca/en/senators/
Email your Senators with a template here:
Senate postpones Canada Post back-to-work legislation decision until Monday
Here’s how you can support Ontario’s trans community
On Saturday, November 17th, the Ontario Progressive Conservative (PC) party voted to pass a resolution that would deny recognizing gender identity theory, during a three-day convention in Toronto.
PC Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Tanya Granic Allen proposed the resolution, which reads, “Be it resolved that an Ontario PC Party recognizes “gender identity theory” for what it is, namely, a highly controversial, unscientific “liberal ideology”; and, as such, that an Ontario PC Government will remove the teaching and promotion of “gender identity theory” from Ontario schools and its curriculum.”
The motion follows the PC’s decision to rescind the updated 2015 sexual education curriculum introduced under the former Liberal government, and reinstate the curriculum from 1998, which excludes topics such as gender identity and online safety.
Since the passing of this vote, numerous members of the transgender community have spoken out to condemn the PC’s decision, advocating for policies that protect the rights and safety of trans and gender diverse peoples.
Help us please.
Thank you for posting this. I have just written to my MPP, the Premier and minister of health are next…
How would one contact their mpp to say that Ontario’s latest resolution re: gender is shit. I know in the US you can text your rep
Contact your MPP here:
Queer Fiction Writer 