Writing a letter to your Senator if you are against the Emergency Act.
How to Email Your Senator Template.
ONE.
Go to Senators (sencanada.ca) and find the senators for your province. Their email and phone numbers are listed there.
For Alberta we have 4 Senators.
SENATOR PATTI LABOUCANE-BENSON Patti.LaBoucane-Benson@sen.parl.gc.ca Telephone: 613-943-8282
SENATOR PAULA SIMONS Paula.Simons@sen.parl.gc.ca Telephone: 613-943-8242
KAREN SORENSEN Karen.Sorensen@sen.parl.gc.ca Telephone: 613-944-1115
SENATOR SCOTT TANNAS scott.tannas@sen.parl.gc.ca Telephone: 613-943-2240
TWO.
As you call and email your provincial Senators you may use my email as a base, but insert some thoughts of your own or remove what you feel is not pertinent to your point of view. You do want to make it personal. Otherwise they can feel that this is a mass email chain coming from an “interest group”. I have seen Edmonton City Council trying to brush off emails that were too similar using this argument.
My email:
Hello,
My name is Lana Palmer and I am a resident of Edmonton, Alberta. I am writing to you because I believe that the institution of the Emergency Act in response to the current events is not only a case of government overreach but that it also sets a very dangerous precedent of authoritarian measures in a democratic nation. We know that once the government seizes this kind of power it seldom gives it back. Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland said herself that Justin Trudeau's government intends to make some of those measures permanent, that is extremely worrisome to me.
Additionally, the Emergency Act has been invoked without any significant effort by the Prime Minister to peacefully negotiate and de-escalate the current protests and convoys. Outside of writing this letter to you or making a phone call, there is really no other mechanism to vocalize concern over public policy than peaceful demonstrations. If the government does not even acknowledge the will of the people and subsequently takes that ability away from its citizens by brute force, we really do not live in a democratic country.
At this point all blockages have been dismantled and as we saw over the weekend the police used excessive violence to end a peaceful protest that was taking place in Ottawa. At present we do not face an "emergency" that justifies the use of these extraordinary powers.
I believe that there is a peaceful, compromised-based solution to the protests that are going on and I would like to see the Senate stand up for what is right. Please say no to the violence, government overreach and the dangerous precedent that the Emergency Act would enable.
As my MP, Ziad Aboultaif beautifully said yesterday: " I encourage all honorable members (and I add Senate members) as you cast your vote today, consider your place in history. Remember the abuses by governments past and ask yourself if this situation at hand warrants the methods being used by this government. Let us put aside our different political parties' identities and come together to vote as Canadians. The nation is watching us now. Will we pretend that we are living in 1917,1942 or 1970? Or will we show that we understand that in 2022, Canadians must not be abused under the whim of a prime minister. History will remember our actions. "
I urge you to do what is right for all Canadians and to protect our rights and freedoms.
Sincerely,
Lana Palmer
Your Address
Your Phone number
Adding your name, address and phone number is imperative as it shows that you are a real person.
THREE.
Be civil and specific with how you express your point of view. Respect is paramount.