#IdleNoMore Widens Global Call For Equality

In November 2012, a group of activists started the grassroots aboriginal movement Idle No More both online and offline, calling for solidarity protests across Canada and US in support of the First Nations, Metis and Inuit people. On the web, the hashtag #IdleNoMore carried the banner on social media sites, garnering a much stronger following, which even the movement's web administrators say has gone beyond their imagined level of support. In fact, from December 23 to 29, 2012, the hashtag enjoyed as many as 25,000 tweets per day, 144,000 Twitter mentions and 12,000 Facebook mentions. A whopping 94 percent of these mentions were favorable and positive toward the cause. The movement was started by activities Sheelah Mclean, Nina Wilson, Sylvia McAdam and Jessica Gordon in November 2012 during the a teach-in in Saskatoon. "The idea is to put pressure on the Canadian government to pay attention and come to the table," said Pamela Palmater, one of the movement's leaders, in an interview with CBC. She notes that the campaign's goal is to increase international awareness and compel Prime Minister Stephen Harper to take action toward an amendment to the federal government's C-45 omnibus budget legislation, which the group says infringes on equality and treaty rights. "We did letter writing and phone calls and talking to MPs and it didn't work," noted Palmater. "So now we're doing all these flash mob round dances, which are more about working hand in hand with Canadians and also keeping the focus on the media." Here's the activity on #IdleNoMore as of January 1, 2013, with its highest in three days on December 30, 2012. It's related hashtag, #cdnpoli, referring to Canadian politics, garnered one of the highest tweet numbers in this three-day period. Read more about the protests on the official website of Idle No More.