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 Years since Canada’s Colonization

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Members of parliament who Can Do Better

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Years of Palestinian Occupation

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Months until Federal Elections

The images below were sourced from Unsplash. (Photos from left to right: Pascal Bernardon, Tandem X Visuals, Emad El Byed, charlesdeluvio)

Our story

Born out of reflection and determination

This campaign was born out of frustration, heartbreak, and a determination to demand better from our democracy. Since December 2023, we have organized rallies and events for Palestine, watching communities across Canada rise up to speak out against genocide happening in real time—and to call out the Canadian government’s shameful inaction.

As we mobilized and grieved for Palestine, we confronted a deeper truth: we are settlers on stolen Indigenous land. As settler-immigrants and settlers, we benefit from Canada’s ongoing genocide against Indigenous Peoples. Time and again, we began our events with land acknowledgements, pausing to reflect on the uncomfortable reality that the genocide we see unfolding in Palestine mirrors the genocide Indigenous Peoples endured—and still endure—here in so-called Canada. Watching the land theft, ethnic cleansing, and cultural erasure in Palestine made it painfully clear how recent and ongoing this history is for our Indigenous kin.

This realization was shattering. Canada’s complicity in Palestine is not an isolated failure—it is rooted in the same systems of settler colonialism and white supremacy that founded this country on stolen Indigenous land.

As a national collective working to engage MPs, we faced a lot of hostility: doors shut in our faces, concerns dismissed, and false accusations of anti-Semitism and mischief leveled against us for demanding action against genocide. The more we pushed for accountability, the clearer it became: politicians do not feel accountable unless we force them to listen. 

Politicians hold power because of our votes. If they refuse to act with integrity to end genocide—whether in Palestine, here in Canada, or anywhere—they do not deserve our support.

Votes Against Genocide is our response to this moment. It’s a tool to hold MPs accountable and force political parties to listen. In 2025, MPs will need our votes again. This time, we will not stand idly by. We will use our collective power to demand action—for Palestine, for Indigenous Peoples, and for a future built on justice, liberation, and reparations.

read our demands

our strategy

Targeting Swing Ridings to Hold Liberal and Conservative MPs Accountable

  1. The campaign uses an Accountability Scorecard to grade every political party on their stance towards genocide. This includes their policies, public statements, and actions. No party is perfect, and this campaign does not endorse any of them. However, the Liberals and Conservatives are our primary focus, given they are the dominant political forces in Canada, holding the majority of seats in Parliament. Our objective is to demonstrate that their power is at risk unless they take meaningful action to end complicity in genocide.
  2. Every pledge is recorded on a tracker map, illustrating how voter pledges could influence elections—especially in swing ridings (ridings where two parties have close voter support, and a small shift can change the winner). These swing ridings are critical in creating leverage because they represent areas where parties are most vulnerable. By targeting these seats, we can force Liberal and Conservative MPs to take notice and act on the demands of their constituents, or risk losing their seats.
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seats lost for the liberals and conservatives

Disclaimers

Land Acknowledgment

We acknowledge that our core volunteers are situated on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabe, and the Haudenosaunee Peoples. We recognize the ongoing impact of colonialism and commit to respecting Indigenous rights and fostering a deeper understanding of the histories and cultures of the land we occupy.

Privacy Policy & Data Integrity

Votes Against Genocide does not store your personal data such as names, phone numbers, and email addresses. Your email address is only stored if you subscribe to our mailing list. Your postal code is stored to keep track of our strategy and is not associated with your identity in any way. Any data that is stored is done so in an encrypted server and over encryption in transit. Regarding cookies, we use temporary session storage for functionality during your visit, which is deleted once you leave the page.

We are committed to transparency and accuracy and have developed a robust data integrity strategy through many months of dedicated work. Our election results data is sourced directly from Elections Canada, ensuring we use reliable and official information. We only accept pledges from Canadian phone numbers and postal codes, and have measures implemented to eliminate duplicate data ensuring that our dataset is relevant, localized, and reliable. We strive to present information that reflects the true state of political actions through reliable sources.

Acknowledgment of Indigenous Rights & Colonial Nature of Voting

We acknowledge that the settler nation of Canada and its leaders are engaged in the illegal occupation of Turtle Island and have committed genocide against Indigenous Peoples who have lived on this land since time immemorial. We recognize that voting has historical roots in colonialism and oppression, causing harm to Indigenous and marginalized communities. This campaign operates within a colonial framework, and we strive to remain mindful of this context. While voting can be a tool for change for those with that privilege, we emphasize the need for a broader approach to justice that includes solidarity with Indigenous sovereignty, amplifying BIPOC voices, and addressing systemic inequalities.

The Core Volunteers Are Neither Palestinian Nor Indigenous

There are no Palestinians or Indigenous members within our core volunteer group yet; however, we have received valuable feedback and insights from Palestinian, Indigenous, and BPOC friends and activists. We acknowledge that we speak from a place of privilege and aim to amplify Palestinian and Indigenous voices rather than speak for them. The initiators of this campaign are settler-immigrants from South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and Europe.

Acknowledging Genocide Beyond the Focus of this Campaign

We know that genocide and human rights violations are also happening in Sudan, Congo, Myanmar, Yemen, Lebanon, and Syria. We can expand this campaign to include other causes and welcome building relationships with individuals and movements to ensure we do so thoughtfully. While we initiated this campaign for Palestine and Indigenous Peoples in Canada, we strive to support all struggles against oppression and genocide without merging causes in a way that could harm any community. We believe that solidarity among movements is vital in the fight for human rights worldwide.

People-Powered Movement

This initiative is driven by the voices of individuals like you. We are not affiliated with any political party. Voting is one tool in our toolbox for change. We also recommend exploring other avenues for engagement and activism, such as community organizing, mutual aid, and raising awareness through social media.

one pledge, two outcomes

The Votes Against Genocide campaign is collecting thousands of pledges to withhold votes from political parties complicit in genocide. These pledges will serve as both a warning and a tool to hold those in power accountable.

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This campaign is people-powered. It is not affiliated with any political party. Authorized by 16744711 Canada Inc.

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