June 3, 2006

An urgent message about what you can do

from Marjaleena Repo, David Orchard’s Campaign for Canada

Dear Friend –

As you may know, after considerable reflection and consultation David Orchard has joined the Liberal Party of Canada. He took the step during the last federal election, supported the Liberal candidate in his own riding, Saskatoon-Wanuskewin, and also threw his support in a visible way behind several Liberal candidates in Quebec and Ontario. He is deeply concerned about the new Conservative party, "conceived in deception and born in betrayal," as he put it, and with its agenda that will profoundly and negatively impact on Canada's future as an independent nation. (See his two articles on the election, "The beginning of the end" and "Mr. Harper goes to Ottawa").

David has been touring Canada since early April, and has held 28 meetings with supporters in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, encouraging all to join him to participate in the renewal process and leadership contest of the Liberal party. David believes that the Liberal party, warts and all, is the only party with a national reach to stop the Conservatives, particularly in Quebec.

Those of us who joined to support David in the Progressive Conservative party, in 1998 and afterwards, know that we had a growing influence in the party, in ridings and in conventions, and that influence could only be stopped by the illegitimate and fraudulent takeover of the party by the Reform-Canadian Alliance party, which in the name of "uniting the right" had aggressively sought to get rid of the PC party for years. As we all know, the Conservative party's recent electoral success was predicated on the systematic destruction of the PC Party, which is no more.

We believe that David's supporters can play an equally significant role in the Liberal party and with our presence will enable David to offer leadership on the issues that have brought us together: the defence of Canadian sovereignty, the protection of our environment, Canadian unity, a functioning central government (as opposed to a balkanized country), electoral reform and opposition to U.S. wars that Canada is increasingly being drawn into. These are issues that resonate with a large sector of the Canadian population which is the reason for our rapid and dramatic influence in the former Progressive Conservative party.

David is asking you to join the Liberal party in time to participate in the leadership process. The quickest way to do that is through the internet by going to www.liberal.ca where you can join using your credit card. (You will get an acknowledgement on line of your membership application, and do keep it as a receipt.) If you have no credit card, you can join by contacting (or visiting) the Liberal office in your province, which you can find by going to the link "The Party" and looking under "Associations." You can locate your riding association's contact information under "Your riding" on the party's website, too. (www.elections.ca will help you determine what riding you are in, as some ridings have recently changed names and boundaries.) You can, of course, also join by attending party's events, including leadership candidates' visits. Please contact your riding association president, tell her or him that you have joined and would like to know when the next meeting or event is taking place so you can participate in the riding association's activities.

The most important part of joining, however, is that you let us know, at davidorchard@sasktel.net that you have joined so that we know that you are "in the loop." (We are still discovering, years later, many people who had joined the PC party to support David and whose existence we did not know about and therefore could not benefit from, a real loss for us and them!)

(Do also let us know, immediately, if you have difficulties in joining, by the internet or other ways, so that we can be of assistance to you. You can e-mail us at ccaftnat@sasktel.net or call toll free at 877-WE STAND where you can always leave a message.)

We also need your help financially! We are asking everyone who is able to give the David Orchard Campaign for Canada a monthly donation of $10 so that we have a budget to keep David travelling and speaking out on urgent public and political matters (see his recent article on Canada's involvement in the war on Afghanistan, "We are wrong in Afghanistan"). With your donations we have been able to maintain an office in Saskatoon and keep David on the road. Many are now giving monthly donations of $10, $15, $20 (and a few more than that!) which makes all the difference in the stability and continuity of our work and plans. You can make your monthly gift by credit card or by automatic withdrawal from your chequing account, and if you can do it without delay it would allow David's message to get around faster and more effectively. Our website, under "What you can do", will give you precise instructions, as well as a monthly donation form for you to print out and mail to us.

(We do, of course, welcome one-time and lump sum donations as well, any time! You can donate through the website or by mailing in your donation or calling in your credit card donation to our toll free 1-877-WE STAND or to our Saskatoon office at 306-664-8443.)

We hope that you will give serious consideration to the above and are prepared to act promptly.

It is amazing what a difference one individual can make!

Hoping to hear from you,

Marjaleena Repo
for the David Orchard Campaign for Canada
(David Orchard's campaign manager and senior advisor in '98, 2000 and 2003; Blackstrap, SK, PC Riding Association president '01-'03; member of the PC Party's Management Committee from September '02 to December '03)

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