Group dials in on novel way to lobby for Darfur

1-800 number connects callers with MPs in 'modern form' of petition.

By Laura Drake, The Ottawa Citizen

Toll-free telephone numbers usually bring to mind customer service representatives and public broadcasting telethons, but a Canadian student group is using its 1-800 number for a unique purpose: lobbying the Canadian government on Darfur.

This week, Stand Canada launched 1-800-GENOCID(E), a toll-free number that connects people concerned about Darfur to one of six members of Parliament chosen from a list.

It's not exactly the Bat Phone, but the students behind the hotline, believed to be the first of its kind in Canada, say they hope the calls will effect immediate and substantial change in Canada's Darfur policy.

After the Rwandan genocide, there were two main things that people said. The first is that it happened so fast, and the second is that the phones weren't ringing," said Yoni Levitan, Stand Canada's executive director, adding that the situation in Darfur has been going on for several years, so it certainly isn't sudden like Rwanda.

"We don't want Canadian politicians to have that second excuse this time around."

Callers to the hotline can connect to the Ottawa offices of four MPs Stand Canada's organizers thought could influence policy on Darfur: Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier, Liberal leader Stéphane Dion and Jason Kenney, the secretary of state for multiculturalism.

They may also choose to be connected to the constituency offices of NDP MP Alexa McDonough or Liberal MP Glen Pearson, who were chosen because they have spoken strongly in the past on Darfur issues, project manager Calyn Shaw said.

Those passionate about the cause can be connected directly, while the more uninformed have the option of taking down some talking points on the issue before being put through.

The talking points vary slightly depending on which MP the caller chooses, but they basically stick to the same themes: supporting the United Nations/African Union Mission, appointing a Canadian envoy to North-East Africa and targeted divestment legislation to put pressure on the Sudanese government.

"We're tired of enabling their silence by our silence, so we're trying to give Canadians a voice to say, 'enough of this, it needs to be on the agenda'," Mr. Shaw said. "This is something that is important to Canadians and it's important to the world, and we need to stand by a notion of never again."

Tim Powers, an Ottawa-based lobbyist and part-time communications professor at the University of Ottawa, said the hotline is an example of the kind of grassroots lobbying that is popular in the United States and is starting to creep into Canada.

"It's a modern form of a petition," Mr. Powers said. "People will do things that are easier to do. If your message is coherent and your argument is rational ... that also helps."