The fundraising campaign Doublonslamise.com took the whole of Québec by surprise, including its founder, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, and the collective of citizen committees behind the campaign, No Spill Over Here! (Coule pas chez nous!). The massive public response to Sunday night’s call-out on the popular Québécois talk show Tout le monde en parle (“Everybody’s talking about it”), which spread to social media, has raised more than $350,000 in three days, seven times the original goal. More than 12,000 donations were received on the site Doublonslamise.com, while No Spill Over Here! received 425 donations by Paypal (totalling $14,600). Such numbers, raised in record time, leave no doubt that the TransCanada pipeline project is socially unacceptable.
The magnitude of the phenomenon also raises questions, concerns and confusion among the public. How can an almost unknown, if not ignored, citizens’ initiative, deserve such an influx of funds and thus, the confidence of donors?
The public can rest assured: the seriousness demonstrated in the preparation and deployment of the campaign reflects the commitment, dedication and concern for the common good of the committees. Since Monday, the collective has increased consultation, information-taking and collaborative measures to quickly put into action the power conferred by this new funding, to assume the new mandate it has been handed. To all those people who have given and continue to give, even as we write, we express ourdeepest gratitude!
These funds will be used responsibly and efficiently to support the volunteer citizen mobilization against the Energy East pipeline project and the oil port in Cacouna. A meeting with Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois will be held shortly to agree on the use of the funds, which will be deposited in a legally constituted organization created for this purpose.
While encouraged by the many messages received from committed and enthusiastic citizens who offer volunteer services, suggestions and requests of all kinds, we are unable to react quickly and we invite all these people to be patient and understanding given the extent of these totally unexpected messages.The No Spill Over Here! campaign material is available from the regional committees. Check coulepascheznous.com and stopoleoduc.org for contact information. Exceptional measures are being taken to supply them as fast as possible with the material. Information is also broadcast regularly on the campaign’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/coulepascheznous.
Source: Committees participating in the campaign No Spills Over Here!
Website: www.coulepascheznous.com
Facebook Page: No Spills Over Here!
STOP the pipeline movement: www.stopoleoduc.org