To help us counter a campaign by Big Telecom lobbyists to suppress our voices and paint a rosy picture of our dysfunctional telecom market, we asked the pro-Internet community to help us fund the development of a cutting-edge letter to the editor tool. Many of you responded by pitching in $5, $10, $25, or anything you could spare. Together, we built the tool and launched it with success: Within 24 hours of receiving our call to action, 420 Canadians wrote and submitted 1,300 letters to their local newspaper editors demanding Federal Minister of Industry Christian Paradis force Big Telecom to play by the rules.

In the wake of governments introducing warrantless surveillance legislation, pro-privacy activists around the globe have begun to organize workshops to teach people how to use encryption to protect their privacy using. These workshops are called CryptoParties. As a response to the warrantless surveillance here in Canada, the Calgary OpenMedia.ca Street Team has begun organizing CryptoParties as a collaborative effort with a local makerspace named Protospace. By regularly hosting these CryptoParties, we will raise awareness of Internet surveillance and give people the tools and knowledge they need to protect their privacy. These tools include software (such as Tor and Off-the-Record Messaging) that has been used in countries without Internet freedom, such as China and Iran.

The pro-Internet community has won some key battles in pushing for a more open, affordable, and surveillance-free Internet because of thousands of unsung hereos like Connie Fournier and Quincy Lam. Just 100 days after the Conservative Government took office and announced that it would pass an invasive, warrantless, and costly online spying legislation, aka "Lawful Access," Connie and Quincy decided to fight back the best way they knew how—they started coding. The result was the development of a cutting-edge engagement tool: an online letter-to-the-editor tool that allows supporters from the pro-Internet community to easily write and submit letters to their local newspaper editors.

As you probably know by now, the Big Three cell phone giants are trying to shut independent competitors out from an upcoming wireless spectrum auction. Spectrum is crucial infrastructure for cell phone providers that want to compete in Canada, and if the Big Three succeed it will mean less choice in the cell phone market, higher monthly bills, and even worse customer service. In response, we at OpenMedia.ca launched a campaign last week, which helps Canadians call on Industry Minister Christian Paradis to help level the playing field in the cell phone market. He can do this by setting aside spectrum (which is crucial for cell phone companies) for small independents and start-ups.

Connie Fournier and Quincy Lam aren’t what you would call conventional activists. When the Conservative Government promised to introduce invasive, costly, and warrantless online spying legislation within the first 100 days of Parlliament they decided to fight back the best way they knew how: They opened up their computers and started programming. Volunteering on weekends and evenings Connie & Quincy developed a cutting-edge online tool to help open Internet supporters send personalized open-editorial letters to their local newspapers. The tool is a first of its kind in Canada. The letter writing tool has already helped hundreds in the open Internet community write and send letters which have been published in numerous small town community weeklies and the largest newspaper in Canada by circulation: The Toronto Star. We know from experience that educating the general public is the first, and often the most important step, in creating a critical mass of public opposition to government decisions. This letter tool will help hundreds of open and surveillance free Internet supporters educate tens of thousands of Canadians about the dangers of invasive and warrantless online spying.

Late last week, OpenMedia.ca met with eight Members of Parliament in Ottawa to discuss legislative strategies that would make the Internet in Canada more open and affordable. This is part of our ongoing effort to help shape the federal government's soon-to-be released Digital Economy Strategy. Our goal was to present a positive digital plan that decision makers can focus on right now. OpenMedia.ca met with the following MPs from the Conservative party:

En français ↓ Andrew Moore, long-time member of the pro-Internet community and OpenMedia.ca's Digital Action Team, gives a video update on the usage-based billing hearings happening this week:

Today, in response to the release of hundreds of pages of unresolved Internet openness complaints, Liberal Industry and Consumer Affairs Critic, Hon. Geoff Regan, announced his support for CRTC audits of Canadian ISPs' online traffic management practices.

OpenMedia.ca fights for open, accessible, and affordable Internet for all Canadians by bringing together the voices of hundreds of thousands of citizens frustrated with high Internet prices, slow speeds, warrantless online surveillance, and restricted online access. Our capacity to move government policy towards Internet accessibility, choice, openness, and transparency stems from your commitment and your support. 

OpenMedia.ca met with eleven pro-Internet Members of Parliament Wednesday and Thursday in Ottawa to discuss our community-crafted research report, Casting An Open Net, and to highlight to lawmakers that Canadians want open, accessible, and affordable Internet access. The following is a list of Members of Parliament who accepted our meeting invitations: ...Wednesday: Bruce Hyer (NDP, Thunder Bay Superior North)