Emerging Leaders Initiative, London, Ontario

The Centre for Social Innovation is a dynamic space in downtown Toronto. Its mission is to spark and support new ideas that are tackling the social, environmental, economic and cultural challenges we face today. They recommend following election related blogs and initiatives that have been launched by, or are connected with, CSI tenants.

Progressive Multi-author Blog Analysis of the Election - http://rabble.ca/election/

Award-winning author Dionne Brand, filmmaker Brian McKenna, and environmentalist, David Suzuki, as well as newly formed advocacy organization, the Department of Culture, are the latest to join the multi-author election blog found at http://www.rabble.ca/election. The blog brings together artists, labour leaders and researchers, economists, environmentalists, first nation activists, youth, GLBT advocates, other independent media (the Dominion, Briarpatch)… people from all walks of life and from all across the country to participate.

Vote Smart so the Majority Wins - http://www.VoteforEnvironment.ca

Initiated by Alice Klein (CSI board member) and Kevin Grandia, http://www.VoteforEnvironment.ca takes a whole new angle on the election. By providing a dynamic riding by riding prediction system, this site makes the best possible information available to Canadians so we can stop splitting the vote and instead vote smart.

Coalition of Artists take Action - http://departmentofculture.ca/

CSI tenants Darren O’Donnell (mammalian.ca) and Gregory Elgstrand have joined up with other Canadian artists to form the Department of Culture - a growing community of Canadian citizens who are artists, arts professionals and cultural workers concerned about ensuring the social and cultural health and prosperity of our nation. Department of Culture is a movement ready to fight for progressive social and cultural values through artist-initiated actions that employ the skills, experiences, collaborative methods and imagination that define artists’ work. For further information and artist resources visit http://departmentofculture.ca/resources/.

David Suzuki Foundation Launches Non-partisan Site - http://www.voteenvironment2008.ca

The health of our environment and the vitality of our democracy go hand-in-hand, which is why the David Suzuki Foundation was inspired to launch a highly interactive election website site, http://www.voteenvironment2008.ca This non-partisan site encourages Canadians to engage in dialogue to ensure that the critical issue of environment does not get lost in the campaign, so that our next government, regardless of which party wins, will work toward solutions. It is also a resource to get the facts on environmental issues from climate change to public transit. So get involved and have your say!

Advocacy Online launches the ‘Canada Votes 2008’ widget

Since elections are usually a critical time for the advocacy work of many organizations, Advocacy Online created a ‘widget’ that would enable individuals to find their local candidates and send them an email message. The ‘Canada Votes 2008’ widget can be added to any web page using simple embed code - similar to the embed code you would use to display a YouTube video. The generic version of the widget is free for any group to use. Please email graham@advocacyonline.net to request the embed code - available in English and French. To see the widget in action, visit: http://www.advocacyonline.net/cms/cmsloader?ejQwbm&view=281,521,3165,0,-html

Non-Partisan Arts Advocacy - http://www.canadianartscoalition.ca

CSI tenant Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists, Ontario Chapter (CADA-ON) is supporting the efforts of the non-partisan arts advocacy group, Canadian Arts Coalition, an entirely volunteer-run organization working to keep culture on the election agenda.

On October 14, get the vote out!

**EMERGING LEADERS IS A NON-PARTISAN INITIATIVE AND DOES NOT ENDORSE ANY SPECIFIC POLITICAL PARTIES**

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