.
Emailing @ 11:30 pm, 17/Mar/11, Toronto, Canada
.
Hi Sophie,
It was my pleasure and thank you for being on so early, I heard your interview a couple of times today and think it's fantastic, hopefully you and Mohamed like it and we can do another soon. I apologize for being 'off' in a couple of spots, we don't have long distance at the station (yet) and my calling card didn't work. So, I plugged in and held my cellphone up using the speaker phone while dragging the studio mic farther than it normally extends to reach and constantly holding it tight to keep the tension and stop any scraping noises. So, my hands were full and I couldn't see the internet, or adjust the audio levels easily, save for hearing them in my headphones. That being said, I think it's hard to tell and it went very well, so I recommend clipping the interview portion only and posting it on your site, or I can clip it and send you a copy to post and share minus my random, self-indulgent and haphazard editorializing at the end! ;)
Excessive technical soliloquoy aside, some ideas related to your case come to mind:
1. While it works for you, I think your high profile, many allies and caucasian accessibility may work against you as well. Our corrupt law enforcement agencies might see letting Mohamed go free now as a huge PR nightmare, simply because so many people would find out, so much media would cover it and so on, which could threaten their future "war on terror" funding. That might be why they're trying to deport him: to finally get this PR headache off their hands. Now, I still believe you should do as much media as possible, especially in the next weeks, but you may want to let things slip into your approach like "We just want to be left alone after this to quietly enjoy our lives" or "We never wanted any trouble and understand they have a job to do" to make it seem like you won't cause them much trouble later. Nobody likes it when you mess with their money, so it might be good to hint that you don't intend to.
2. CKLN Radio created a petition to stop the CRTC from (wrongly) taking our broadcast licence and we now have a reprieve to get up to CRTC standards. However, not only did we do the petition, after checking with the CRTC, they confirmed they were interested in the amount and quality of direct public feedback regarding our case and were taking comments. While I doubt the Immigration Minister's office feels the same way, it might not be a bad idea to encourage many of the 3000 people who signed to contact Immigration Canada (or whomever) directly, along with their MP's, MPP's, City Councilors and any other politicians or prominent Canadians with any power or influence who aren't already on board, like we did at CKLN. Immigration Canada may try to reject the petition for petty reasons, but once enough Canadians are contacting them, they'll want to give us something to like just so we'll stop. Besides that, once we decide to contact our politicians, we have a more direct and personal stake in the outcome, it feels realer and we each want results in exchange for our own time spent as Canadians who decide to communicate with our government.
3. Group communication lists with daily, weekly or bi-weekly updates that people can agree to in the lead-up to your presentation to Mr. Kenney might be a good idea. That will keep us all involved and remembering to promote your (our) cause and help build an anxious online community waiting to hear the results. Facebook is also key today, I've been lax in recognizing it and paid the price, but everyone who's tried swears by its effectiveness, especially in a city like Toronto with the most users in the world. You may want to add a wish-list of tasks to your site that people can independently take up, including Facebook captains, website banner-ad creators, people who can take out ads in local papers, TV and radio, who are willing to hold rallies, image, video, poster and flyer creators and distributors, and so on. I'm an "idea guy" so I can help create it, but these are the basics. Your case brings a lot of what a lot of people talk about very close to home, or it goes from "theory" to "practice" as we see the horrible legislation that's been passed actually being used on people. Now that people are generally worried (about the economy, etc.) your case could be a cut-and-dried and crystal clear example of what to support to resist corruption that threatens all of us if we don't deal with it.
Anyway, my apologies for the length, it'd be shorter if I said it, but there's the basics, please let me know your thoughts as you'd likea.
Paix,
BK
647-855-4744
(Posted with permission of the recipient.)
.
March 17, 2011
CKLN 88.1 FM's Rude Awakening:
Canadian Sophie Harkat Fights War On Terror Security Certificates In Canada
Featuring: Sophie Harkat
Show MP3 Download Links:
http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/50178
http://www.archive.org/details/Ckln88.1FmsRudeAwakeningCanadianSophieHarkatFightsWarOnTerror
This episode: where does special guest Sophie Harkat get the strength to fight "war on terror" persecution by Canadian law enforcement agencies for 8 years with and for her husband Mohamed Harkat? What happens when law enforcement breaks the law? What are security certificates? Why are they unconstitutional? Why are they still used? With thousands of signatures being added to a petition being presented to Immigration Canada: Will Mohamed Harkat be allowed to remain in Canada? Get justice? Peace?
CKLN Radio's Rude Awakening Morning Show is hosted by Black Krishna, aka BK, aka Vijay Sarma, aka Vij, on Mondays and Thursdays from 6 - 7 am EST on CKLN 88.1 FM, Rogers Cable 947 and CKLN.fm online. Public domain mp3's to use, share or re-post are available after 8 am at Radio4All.net, Archive.org and BlackKrishna.blogspot.com. Please visit - WhatYouWantToBelieveIn.com - or contact - blackkrishna@gmail.com - or - vijay.sarma@gmail.com - or - 647-855-4744 -- Thanks!
.
WWW.HARKATSTATEMENT.COM
Sign The Statement Against Security Certificates
Online Signatures: 2869
Offline Signatures: 409
We, the undersigned, have grave concerns regarding the continued use of sections 9, 76-87 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which allow for the imprisonment in Canada of refugees and permanent residents under the authority of a “Security Certificate”.
http://www.harkatstatement.com/
.
