By now, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of the Defend Our Coast rally happening in Victoria on Oct. 22nd – but what if you don’t live in Victoria? Or what if you’d prefer to target your MLA instead of the provincial government at large?

Well, Dogwood Initiative is helping organize an unprecedented day of action in communities across the province two days later on Wednesday Oct. 24th. Why? First, we know there are thousands of No Tankers supporters outside of the Victoria region who want to take action (more than 30 communities have already signed up) and second, our voices are particularly powerful at the local level. If you live outside of B.C., don’t worry, we’ll be in touch soon about other opportunities to take action.

Increasingly, there is a need to shine the spotlight on B.C.’s individual Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), especially as next year’s provincial election ticks closer. There is a developing risk that B.C.’s two major political parties are settling into their current party positions with respect to oil tanker proposals. The B.C. Liberals have their five conditions and the B.C. NDP oppose Enbridge but will not comment on Kinder Morgan. Therefore, more needs to be done at the level of individual electoral districts, engaging our local MLAs.

The actions on Oct. 24th are just the beginning of what will be a sustained effort to help you persuade your provincial MLA to do more to protect our rivers and coast, leading up to next year’s provincial election. Importantly, the events on the 24th will be simple and fun and will send the signal to our provincial politicians that we are organizing in their communities.