We have our winners! And the prizes go to…

After some serious campaigning from our incredible OpenMedia community, the “Great Canadian Petition Drive to Kill C-51” is complete — and we have our top spots! Congratulations to our top three leaders, each taking home an awesome pro-privacy prize pack: Ben Kendrick David Butz Peter Benton Ben Kendrick took a strong lead in this competition right from the start, eventually taking the proverbial cake with an astonishing number of shares — well over 1000, and still counting!

How did he do it?!?

We were having a hard time wrapping our heads around how one individual was having such an incredible reach, and wanted to better understand what drives our most enthusiastic supporters. So, we talked to Ben about his experience with the C-51 campaign to find out more.

Facebook seems to have been the key to Ben’s success in the leaderboard challenge. He shared the petition with not just his friends and family, but different groups that have a vested interest in protecting Canadians’ privacy online. This has helped the campaign reach new audiences that aren’t necessarily familiar with OpenMedia’s work. This is definitely the most effective way that our campaigns reach new audiences — your sharing and recommendations!

Beyond the amazing support that Ben helped to garner for having Bill C-51 repealed, what impresses us most here at OpenMedia HQ, is that he’s brand new to the OpenMedia community! Although Ben has known about us for a while, this is actually the first campaign that he has participated in with OpenMedia, and he found KillC51.ca through  — you guessed it — a Facebook group. (The power of social media is working well for OpenMedia.)  😊

So, why did he do it? And how does he feel about being a part of the OpenMedia community now? I’ll leave that to Ben’s own words:

“OpenMedia is fighting a lot of good fights; doing work that nobody else is doing. You were among the first to fight on behalf of the people for Internet freedom. It’s such a necessary thing, and you guys are doing a great job.”

Well, the feelings are mutual, Ben. We think you’re pretty awesome too. Welcome to the OpenMedia community!

So now that the contest is over, does this spell the end for the Kill C-51 campaign?

Of course not! OpenMedia remains committed to having this dangerous bill repealed. And there is another milestone for us on the near horizon.

We are so close — but we need your help on the final push. We are less than 3,300 signatures away from passing 300,000 people that have spoken up against this dangerous bill!

When we reach 300,000, we’re going to switch gears to ensure that C-51 and your digital privacy are a key issue in this fall’s election campaign. We’ll also be putting together a plan to deliver all of your signatures to the new government, and hold them accountable to Canadians on this critical issue.

We need you (And your friends. And your friends’ friends. And your family. And your neighbours!) to join us in making privacy a critical election issue throughout the campaign.

In the wise words of Ben Kendrick, “C-51 is too vague — you don’t know how they’re going to use their power. There is no independent oversight.”Please join us in this final push, and help us get this reckless legislation repealed.

A huge thanks to everyone who has helped us make it this far — we truly couldn’t do this without our incredible community of supporters!

Stay tuned for more updates from us on privacy, C-51, and the federal election, coming next week…