Hold onto your hats Canada, it’s going to be a wild week ahead!

We have a busy and exciting week ahead on all of our pillars and we want to make sure our community members are the first to know what’s cooking.

The OpenMedia office is abuzz with excitement today, as we’re putting the final plans in place for what’s shaping up to be one of the busiest weeks in our community’s history! Many of our top team are off to Ottawa, where they have a whole series of high-profile meetings lined to help ensure our Internet is accessible, affordable, and surveillance-free.

Here’s just a quick flavour of what your OpenMedia team has in store for next week:

Privacy:

• Monday October 31st: We’re meeting with Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale’s top advisors to amplify your voices calling for action from the government on Bill C-51 - and to pass on your feedback about the state of their national security consultation. If you haven’t yet added your voice to the consultation, you can do so using our handy Save Our Security tool.

• Friday November 4th: Our team will be meeting with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, to discuss the online privacy issues you’ve told us matter most to you — not least their ongoing investigation into RCMP use of Stingray surveillance uses to capture our cell phone data, an investigation triggered by our very own Laura Tribe.

Access:

• Tuesday November 1st: We’re meeting with senior advisors to Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly to tell them not to proceed with the ISP tax - a proposed policy that will jack up your already sky-high Internet prices. We’ll be making the point that there are far better alternatives to fund Canadian content (CanCon) than to make Internet access even more prohibitive for a population that already pays some of the highest prices in the industrialized world for mediocre service. Keep your eyes peeled for new developments on this initiative and, in the meantime, you can also check out this piece by our own Josh Tabish for more background.

• Wednesday November 2nd: By Wednesday morning, we’ll have just hours left for you to speak out against data caps before our presentation at the CRTC hearing on Thursday! We will also be providing a preview of the hearings to quench your thirst before the big day.

• Thursday November 3rd: Probably marks one of the most awaited moments for our team as well as for our community this year, as OpenMedia will be making a definitive case against data caps and zero-rating at a high-profile CRTC hearing. We will also urge the telecom regulator to uphold strong net neutrality rules that keep the Internet a level playing field for all service providers and consumers equally. You’ll be able to watch us live on CPAC and follow our live tweets throughout the presentation - so stay tuned for exact times via our Facebook and Twitter channels.

Free Expression:

• Monday October 31st: The Standing Committee on International Trade closes its public consultations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership just a little over a week before the U.S. elections. So this weekend marks our very last chance to speak out at LetsTalkTPP.ca!

So, phew! A busy (and super-exciting!) week lies ahead for all of us, and we want to keep you in the loop every step of the way. Needless to say, if you’ve yet to follow us on Facebook and Twitter now would be a great time to do so, as we’ll be posting regular updates throughout next week as things develop across our social media channels and right here at OpenMedia.org

See you on Monday!