FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 26, 2011

Canadian Youth Working With Candidates to Improve Canadian Foreign Policy

Ottawa, ON – Over the course of the election, STAND Canada, a youth-based anti-genocide organization, has been executing its Speak the Name campaign, a nonpartisan national advocacy campaign devoted to securing meaningful policy commitments from Members of Parliament and political aspirants during the federal election.

Speak the Name is one of STAND Canada’s on-going campaigns designed to make prevention of genocide, mass atrocity crimes and crimes against humanity a cornerstone of Canadian foreign policy. The goal of Speak the Name is to reach out to political candidates of all stripes during the federal election and to encourage them to make mass atrocity crime prevention a cornerstone of Canadian foreign policy by subscribing to STAND Canada’s policy recommendations, which include establishing a Sub-Committee for the Prevention of Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity and demanding that the Canadian Government take a more active role in facilitating negotiations in Sudan as the Comprehensive Peace Agreement comes to an end. STAND Canada’s Federal Election Strategy Manager, Collin Potter-Bonar, said that elections are important opportunities for advocates. “Speak the Name has been taking advantage of the election period to suggest improvements for Canada’s foreign policy, in particular by making genocide and crimes against humanity prevention a foreign policy priority.”

Currently, STAND has garnered meaningful support for all of their policy recommendations from all of Canada’s national political parties, except the Conservative Party. A number of notable supporters include: Mr. Irwin Cotler (Liberal), Mr. Paul Dewar (NDP), Mr. Bob Rae (Liberal), Mr. Glen Pearson (Liberal), Mr. Daniel Bryce (Green), Mr. Rob Oliphant (Liberal), Mr. Doug Smyth (NDP) and Ms. Tanya Gutmanis (Green). “It is great to see so many candidates and Members of Parliament champion human rights by taking a stand against the mass atrocities,” Potter-Bonar said. “Our government is in a privileged position to take action on genocide prevention and the candidates who have worked with STAND during this election have embraced Canada’s heritage as a human rights leader in the international community and are working to strengthen our country’s legacy.” STAND Canada’s Advocacy Director, Scott Fenwick, added: “STAND looks forward to working with all elected officials in making action against genocide a cornerstone of Canadian foreign policy.”

For a complete list of our supporters, please visit: www.standcanada.org/speak-the-name/our-supporters.

For more information about Speak the Name, please visit www.standcanada.org/speak-the-name or email cpotterbonar@standcanada.org.

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Founded in 2005, STAND Canada is the leading organization in Canada for youth led anti-genocide advocacy and activism. We provide easy-to-use action tools that make it easy for Canadians to stay updated on the current situation in Darfur and South Sudan, and educate them with ways to act against genocide. These include Stand Canada chapters at 16 universities and 10 high schools across the country, the 1-800-GENOCIDE phone number, as well an email tool that would directly go to an MP to express concerns about what we think the government should do to help the people of Darfur and South Sudan. More information can be found at standcanada.org.

Media inquiries may be directed to:

Lisa Pires
Director of Communications, STAND Canada
(647) 238-9511
lpires@standcanada.org

Or

Collin Potter-Bonar
Federal Election Strategy Manager, STAND Canada
(514) 616-4492
cpotterbonar@standcanada.org