2-11/05/05 - Catch 22 wraps up  - Straight Goods

2011/05/02 - How 9 prime strategic voting races in BC ended up - David Beers, The Tyee

2011/05/02 - CBC-British Columbia radio interview with Catch 22 co-ordinator Gary Shaul

2011/05/01 - Siddiqui: Vote has become referendum on Harper - Toronto Star

Thus such groups as Project Democracy and Catch 22 are advocating strategic voting for the two-thirds of voters who do not support Harper. On their websites (projectdemocracy.ca and catch22campaign.ca), both identify candidates in ridings most likely to beat the Conservative standard-bearer. (Catch 22 is named after the number of days lost in 2008-09 when Harper prorogued Parliament).

2011/05/01 - Internet campaigns step up before Canada poll - AF

2011/05/01 - Throwing the Rascals In: A final column - Howenow.ca (blog)

2011/05/01 - Strategic voting is more important than ever - Murray Dobbin - Calgary Beacon

Stephen Harper’s Conservatives are still within reach of winning a majority in Monday’s election. Catch 22 Campaign research shows that the most dangerous factor that could help the Conservatives would be the possible collapse of the Liberal vote in several key ridings.

2011/04/30 - But vote strategically - Toronto Star

In some parts of the country there is a real risk that a surge toward the NDP could sap the Liberal vote and have the perverse effect of tipping more seats to the Conservatives. Voters worried about that should consider voting strategically — giving their support to the progressive candidate best placed to win.

2011/04/29 - All we are saying is give Jack a chance - Globe and Mail

There are a number of groups across the country, like Catch-22 or Project Democracy, that have been doing good work promoting strategic anti-Conservative voting. They can help you figure out who makes most sense in your riding, taking into account the NDP surge.

2011/04/28 - Strategic voting in B.C. ridings “crucial” for outcome of federal election - Vancouver Observer

Like other campaigns including Project Democracy and Swing 33, Catch 22 is pushing a "strategic vote" during this election. Catch 22 is the only one to have volunteers pamphleting on the ground, but all three groups have a common cause: to convince people to vote for the candidate with the highest chance of preventing a Conservative victory.

...

"The Conservatives heavily rely on vote splitting on the other side in order to get in," Zokhi said. "Anything that involves galvanizing the opposition voters to support one person instead of splitting their votes ---  they are terrified by that."

2011/04/28 - Anti-Harper strategic voting website names four 'crucial' BC ridings - The Tyee

Catch-22, a self-described grassroots group out to “stop Stephen Harper’s Conservatives from attaining a majority” has named four close fought “vital ridings” in British Columbia where one candidate has a much better chance than others of knocking off the Tory in the race.

2011/04/27 - Anyone-but-Harper crowd goes after GTA votes - Toronto Star

The greeting widens tired eyes outside the Lawrence West subway station in the middle of a rainy weekday morning commute.

“Hi, we’re trying to stop Stephen Harper,” says a cheery middle-aged man wearing a rain jacket and a yellow “Vote for democracy — not Harper” T-shirt.

Armed with a handful of soggy pamphlets flapping in the wind, Nick Fillmore, of the Catch 22 campaign, is trying to convince centre-left voters to help thwart the Harper government’s quest for a majority by voting strategically against the Conservative Party.

“I plan on it, don’t worry,” says one man on his way into the station.

2011/04/27 - On the Internet, it’s anybody but Harper - Globe and Mail

The residents of the ridings of Palliser in Saskatchewan, Oshawa in Ontario and Surrey North in British Columbia – and 35 other Conservative-held constituencies across Canada – are about to get a phone call.

In a “polite, nice” way, a recorded voice will urge them to vote for anyone but the incumbent Tory MP on Monday.

It’s a plea that does not come from a political party. It is the work of a grassroots citizens group with a strong Internet presence called Catch 22. As in: Catch 22 Conservatives.

“I know we would feel wonderful if we could see the results come out on election day and we could feel that we might have made a difference in six or eight seats,” said Nick Fillmore, one of the group’s strategists. “We think that might be enough to stop a majority government.”

2011/04/27 - Why do the NDP, Liberals and Tories agree on so much?

 

2011/04/27 - Anti-Harper group targets ridings with close races - Orléans Star

 

2011/04/26 - Catch 22 prioritizing West Nova - Annapolis County Spectator

The Catch 22 Campaign, a grassroots network opposing the Stephen Harper government in the May 2 election, plans during the final days of this campaign to advertise in newspapers and phone tens of thousands of voters in key ridings.

Catch 22 is also expanding its on-the-ground campaign in targeted ridings across the country. The campaign is endorsing Gordon Earle in South Shore – St. Margaret’s and Robert Thibault in West Nova.

2011/04/26 - Local vote swapping site targets Tories - Hamilton Spectator

Catch 22 co-ordinator Gary Shaul said the grassroots network knows the abundance of strategic voting sites may be a challenge for voters, but notes most sites are offering the same advice.

“I think that a number of sites are complementary to each other,” he said, adding he invests little time in anonymous websites.

Shaul said his group also recognizes that just posting a website with advice isn’t enough. Catch 22 is planning an advertising campaign in the ridings it is targeting, he said. The closest ridings to Hamilton are Haldimand-Norfolk and Oakville.

2011/04/24 - Five factors that could tip balance of the election - Toronto Star

Catch 22, an organization that is urging strategic voting to block a Harper majority, has compiled a list of more than 50 ridings in which it recommends candidates to block Conservatives, but it has not changed the list on its website in the wake of the changed national numbers.

[Catch 22's response: see Catch 22 candidate picks unchanged by NDP surge]

 

2011/04/21 - CATCH 22 AIMS AT PREVENTING HARPER MAJORITY - Open File (Calgary)

2011/04/21 - Angry lefties unite! - Uptown (Winnipeg)

Catch 22 Harper Conservatives (catch22campaign.ca) was the first website I was made aware of — so named for the 22 days that Harper prorogued Parliament back in 2010 — and is one of several similar online campaigns.

Basically, Catch 22 and others are advocating for widespread strategic voting. Those involved with the "cross-country, grassroots, multi-partisan, pro-democracy, volunteer campaign" have identified target ridings throughout Canada — 37 at last count — in which an opposition candidate has a shot at defeating the incumbent Conservative MP, provided voters cast their ballots as a coordinated, united front instead of splitting the vote between all candidates running.

2011/04/20 - Anti-Harper voting campaign targets North Van - North Shore Outlook

But Conservative incumbent Andrew Saxton says his team takes serious issue with the campaign.

“We take all threats seriously, especially if they come from strategic voting campaigns that undemocratically encourage insincere voting,” said Saxton in an email to The Outlook. “This is proof that Ignatieff’s coalition is alive and well on the North Shore and is more reason why we need to get all our supporters out to vote.”

2011/04/20 - Porter: Earth lovers make strong case for blocking Harper - Toronto Star

Left-wing, grassroots groups have filled the void. Both Project Democracy ( www.projectdemocracy.ca) and Catch 22 ( http://catch22campaign.ca) are web-based campaigns to block a Harper majority by targeting key ridings.

In Mississauga-Erindale, both campaigns back Liberal Omar Alghabra, who lost the last election by just 400 votes, while in Oshawa, they both support the NDP’s Chris Buckley.

Their logic is clear: In 2008, the Conservatives won Oshawa by 3,000 votes, while the Liberals and Greens together bagged 11,000 votes. Had those votes backed the NDP candidate, the House of Commons would look different.

I’m old-fashioned. I like to vote with my heart, not my head. But, I live in the George Smitherman zone of Toronto, where Green signs outnumber blue ones.

If I lived in a vulnerable riding, I’d tick whatever box had the best chance of blocking a Tory majority with ruthless determination.

My children’s future is at stake.

2011/04/20 - Strategic voting advocates see momentum, despite history of being ignored - Winnipeg Free Press

Over at Catch 22, Shaul has been involved in strategic-voting campaigns before and seen them flop. This time, he says, he has learned from past mistakes.

The group is ignoring 200 ridings where the results seem "sewn up." They're only targeting ridings where the second-place contender is obvious and the candidate running in third is way at the back of the pack.

They won't make a call in Kenora, Ont., for example, on how voters should try to defeat Tory Greg Rickford; or in the Pontiac riding in Quebec, on how to take down Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon.

The group shuns the help of large organizations who may come with vested interests or demands to abandon their projection models in favour of being even-handed — something Shaul has seen before.

And instead of just issuing lists and hoping people read them, Shaul has volunteers actively campaigning in key ridings, handing out literature and speaking to voters.

2011/04/19 - Strategic voting targets Maple Ridge riding - Maple Ridge News

Volunteers are now targeting all-candidate meetings to distributed leaflets urging folks to vote strategically.

In Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge- Mission, the campaign endorses NDP candidate Craig Speirs as the only chance to defeat the Conservative incumbent.

Elizabeth Rosenau, a Maple Ridge resident who ran against Speirs for the NDP nomination, is a volunteer with Catch 22.

“I think that our democracy is really at risk with the Conservative minority undermining it in many different ways,” she said.

“I believe that reducing the number of Conservatives is really critical to allowing our country to begin to restore democracy.”

2011/04/19 - Joyce Arthur: Stop a Conservative majority and protect women's right to choose - Georgia Strait

Don’t forget to vote in the May 2 election, and if it would help in your riding, please consider voting strategically to ensure that the Conservative candidate does not win.

(See the Catch22 campaign Please note that voting strategicially does not mean automatically voting for the Liberal candidate— often the NDP candidate has a better shot at winning. Check before you vote!)

2011/04/16 - Opponents take message online - PostMedia News

The Catch 22 campaign's stated goal is to "defeat the Harper Conservatives."

According to the site: "We'll do this by supporting the opposition candidate with the best chance to win."

2011/04/15 - Strategic voting groups have lofty goals - CBC

A number of online strategic voting campaigns have started up again after surfacing in the 2008 vote, with hopes of playing a bigger hand this time in who gets elected. Catch 22 — which is registered with Elections Canada as a third party and also has a presence on Facebook — certainly has high hopes, with the stated goal of defeating more than 30 Conservatives in 2011.

"If Catch 22 and other groups working for the same cause are able to orchestrate a significant shift in voting patterns in just a few seats, it will be a remarkable day in Canadian politics," said the group on its website.

In a news release, the group pulled no punches: "The Catch 22 founders realized that, given the usual vote-splitting among squabbling opposition parties, only a smart, targeted campaign run independently of the parties could deny Stephen Harper his goal. This Catch 22 upstart is starting to inspire discouraged voters in 52 of Canada's 308 electoral districts to vote together against Harper and astonish Canada."

The group, which fears Stephen Harper would "dismantle Canada as we know it," is not backing one particular party, and is suggesting people vote for Liberals, NDP and Green Party members instead of Conservatives. To defeat Tory candidate John Baird in Ottawa West-Nepean, for example, Catch 22 suggests people vote for Anita Vandenbeld of the Liberals. Catch 22 backs May.

2011/04/14 - Grassroots campaign aims to split the votes to defeat Tories - News 1130

Gary Shaul with the Catch 22 campaign says they're targeting ridings across the country where the Tories are vulnerable. "The goal is to help voters defeat as many Conservative candidates in the upcoming election."

"We've identified a number of ridings where there are possible opportunities," he explains. "The way the voting system works in Canada is a candidate only needs to get more than the other candidates to win. They don't need a majority. So, vote splitting is a feature of Canadian politics."

2011/04/14 - Tories, Grits and Greens on the defensive - Vancouver Sun

 

2011/04/13 - Catch 22 Campaign backs candidates who can defeat Conservatives in federal election - Georgia Straight

 

 

2011/04/08 - Saskatchewan: Awash in blue but hopeful for change - rabble.ca

 

2011/04/07 - The rabble rouser! Election 2011 coverage in print! - rabble.ca

DO YOU LIVE in one of these critical ridings?! Or do you know someone who does? Get the message out where it matters most!!

2011/04/07 - Anyone but Conservative - The Coast (Halifax)

The Catch 22 organization lets you take action against Stephen Harper no matter where you live, fighting voter apathy in the process.

2011/04/06 - Talking points- STRATEGIC VOTING REDUX - Ottawa Citizen

 

2011/04/06 - Strategic voting initiative targets Kamloops - The Daily News (Kamloops)

"It's aimed unabashedly at overturning the Harper government and getting another government in power," said Murray Dobbin, a B.C. Catch 22 co-ordinator. "It's saying we have to focus on that goal rather than, as you might wish, on your personal political preferences."

2011/04/05 - Holding My Nose to Vote Ignatieff - The Mark

Strategic voting is often a chimera. If your riding is a shoo-in for the Conservatives, then why not vote NDP and help build the opposition voice in your community? Occasionally, though, strategic voting carries real weight. That's why groups like Catch 22 Harper Conservatives and Leadnow are so vital right now.

2011/04/05 - Save Canada's Cannabis Culture: Vote Out The Conservatives on May 2 - Cannabis Culture

 

2011/04/05 - Après le vote stratégique, le don stratégique - cyberpresse.ca

L'initiative de Swing33 n'est pas sans rappeler celle de Catch22 (catch22campaign.ca), un site Web sur lequel les électeurs de circonscriptions baromètres s'échangent leurs votes pour favoriser les partis qui ont le plus de chances de renverser les candidats conservateurs dans les circonscriptions baromètres. Catch22 récidive encore cette année. À noter que la tactique n'est pas illégale au sens de la Loi électorale si le tout se passe de façon transparente.

2011/04/04 - Strategic votes for May - CBC Inside Politics

A group that's grown out of opposition to the 2009 prorogation is throwing its support behind Green Party Leader Elizabeth May.

Catch-22 started in protest when Stephen Harper shut down Parliament at the end of 2009.
...

So they're focusing on about 60 ridings they think they can turn against the Conservatives, hoping to shut them out of the House of Commons.

2011/04/04 - Strategic voting in St. B. - Winnipeg Free Press

A group calling themselves Catch 22 is looking to foment strategic voting in 40 ridings across Canada in a bid to oust Stephen Harper’s Conservative government. They appear to be a grassroots group of lefties and they’ve earned a little press since they launched their campaign late last week.

2011/04/03 - Canada, Can we be rid of the Harperites? - Pacific Free Press

 

2011/04/02 - Catch 22 - Green Party of Canada

"It is great to be recommended for endorsement by the website Catch 22." - Elizabeth May

2011/04/01 - "Danny Williams would be proud" - Michael Gorman - Nova Scotia Chronicle/Herald

Danny Williams would be proud.

2011/04/01 - Voting Smart and Strategically - Barbara Yaffe - Vancover Sun

Say what you will about its goal, the group deserves credit for making cunning use of the Internet.

2011/04/01 - Interview on the Rick Howe radio show - Maritimes

 

2011/04/01 - Interview with CKLN radio - Ryerson University

 

2011/03/28 - On strategic voting - Earnest & Jest (Blog)

These guys are pretty awesome.

2011/03/07 - Harper Government Push to Block Green Party Win in Saanich by Richard Komorowski, Cornwall Free News

Prime Minister Harper, along with local MP and PMO spokesman for Sport Gary Lunn are taking the threat from Elizabeth May and the Green Party seriously. With an election possible at any time, every riding is important to Harper in his quest for reelection and his effort to hang onto the leadership of the Conservative Party. In an effort to drum up support for Lunn, Harper made a campaign style journey to the riding to announce a $155m project to build helicopter hangers.

Why is Harper targeting this riding in particular? None of the three opposition parties in the House of Commons, despite having a majority of the seats and representing a majority of Canadians, seem able to mount any kind of effective alternative to government policies. The Canadian political leader most able to analyse Harper and his policies and cause embarrassment is Elizabeth May, leader of the federal Green Party. In previous election campaigns, Harper has tried vehemently to keep her out of the televised leaders’ debates...

Catch 22, a grassroots campaign is targeting a number (originally 22) of marginal Conservative ridings throughout the country, hoping to persuade voters to vote strategically for the local candidate most likely to beat the Conservative incumbent. One of these ridings is Gary Lunn’s Saanich – Gulf Islands.

The group is also setting up to support a number of key opposition MPs who will be Conservative Party special targets in the next election. Among them is Edmonton – Strathcona NDP MP Linda Duncan, who has been an outstanding environmental critic for the NDP, and who recently brought to light an attempt by the Harper Government to use taxpayer money to target ethnic voters.

2011/02/03, Catch 22 strategy aims to vote out Stephen Harper government, The Georgia Straight (Vancouver)

Shaul said the campaign intends to hold the Conservative government to account for its “abuses” of democratic institutions and processes. In addition to the two prorogations of Parliament, he cited as examples the withholding of documents related to the torture of detainees in Afghanistan, where Canadian soldiers are deployed; funding cuts to nonprofit organizations involved in advocacy work, especially on women’s issues; the killing of the climate-change bill in the Conservative-dominated Senate; and the scrapping of the mandatory long-form census. 

This article was also referenced by The Mark and The Blogging Tories.

 

2011/02/03, Catch 22 Campaign Seeks to Oust Harper, The Mark

With most of the world trying to figure out a way to get Hosni Mubarak out of office, a nationwide campaign is hoping to topple Stephen Harper through strategic voting. Organizers of the Catch 22 campaign, named after the 22 sitting days Parliament lost when Harper prorogued the legislature in 2009, have identified 32 ridings the Conservatives won by a slim margins in the last election and is directing voters to pick the opposition candidate most capable of winning.

2010/08/21, Catch 22 Harper Conservatives, Dammit Janet! (blog)

Is your riding -- or one nearby -- on the list? Maybe you've got friends or relatives in the targetted ridings who need to know about this campaign. Spread far and wide.

2010/05/12, Debate on strategic voting tonight, Waterloo Chronicle

Tonight’s debate features former local NDP candidate Scott Piatkowski going head-to-head with union activist Gary Shaul.

2010/04/19, They're Recharging Democracy, TheTyee.ca

But the common feature linking the anti-prorogation movement (it is still activelyorganizing) and the local community organizing efforts is the democracy imperative. They are both about engaging citizens and enhancing democratic politics. And that, perhaps, is the necessary ingredient for national political change.

2010/04/09, catch 22 harper conservatives, we move to canada (blog)

It has one goal: get rid of this government. And it's targeting specific ridings in order to do so. It's an intelligent and focused strategy and there are ways we can all get involved.

2010/04/01, Catch 22 Harper Conservatives, Green Party of Canada (blogs)

The Catch 22 Harper Conservatives campaign is a grassroots effort to help defeat the Conservative government. I've been assisting with this campaign, which recently launched, and I urge Green members to join.

2010/03/25, Catch 22 Harper Conservatives..., rabble.ca

The Catch 22 Harper Conservatives strategy is to target winnable ridings with weak Conservative incumbents, recruit volunteers and communicate with voters before the next election is called. The main premise is that an informed electorate will vote in their own interests, and not strictly in the interests of political parties, politicians and lobby groups.

2010/03/25, Social Media and “The Great Turning” Part IV: People Interacting with People, Vancouver Observer

A Facebook group called “Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament” ... morphed into another cause called “Catch 22 Harper Conservatives”. This cause intends to defeat the Conservatives in the next election. This whole movement was started and unfolded by ordinary people working together with ordinary people, using the tools of social media.

2010/03/12, Catch 22, Dammit Janet! (blog)

This is a great idea... The grassroots organizers have been working on this for a while, analyzing voting records to come up with 22 vulnerable ReformaTory seats.