Michael Ignatieff hopes Stephen Harper’s Facebook pain will mean Liberal gain

The Conservative campaign’s tossing of a university student from a Stephen Harper rally for having a Facebook picture of herself with Michael Ignatieff has raised eyebrows across the country.

A Harper spokesperson has apologized after Awish Aslam, a University of Western Ontario student, was reportedly reduced to tears after being kicked out of the event by a Conservative official on the weekend.

Now, the Liberals have released a campaign video which humorously skewers the Conservatives’ Facebook checks.

Also today (April 6), Ignatieff’s campaign sent an email titled “The danger of being my Facebook friend” to Liberal supporters, soliticing donations.

The email reads:

Friend --

It’s a story you never thought you’d hear in Canada — and with your support, we can make sure it never happens again.

Sunday, two young students show up at Stephen Harper’s rally in London, Ontario. They are “there to listen,” getting ready to vote for the first time.

Out of the blue, an official approaches, leads them to a back room, tears up their name tags, and orders them out of the event. “We know you guys have ties to the Liberal Party through Facebook,” the official says.

“We cried, and waited for the bus and went home”¦ I was just really confused and embarrassed, the way that he ripped our stickers,” one of the young women later told a London Free Press reporter.

That’s Stephen Harper’s Canada. Undemocratic. Disrespectful. And certainly going against our best Canadian traditions.

And it’s why I’m asking you to donate what you can right now — so we can leave it behind for good on May 2.

How Stephen Harper’s Conservatives decide to do a Facebook background check on everyone at their rallies, while ignoring the criminal past of a senior advisor like Bruce Carson is a mystery to me.

But I’ll tell you what. We’ve had thousands and thousands of Canadians show up at Liberal rallies from Vancouver to St. John’s. And all they hear at the door is “Come on in to the Big Red Tent.”

It’s a message our candidates are taking to Canadians. A message reinforced by our platform, the Liberal Family Pack, unveiled Sunday. A message of hope for families, and a vision for Canada where a Canadian is a Canadian, regardless of how they vote.

But it won’t happen on its own. We need your help right now.

Please give what you can right now — together let’s build a Canada where our young people can be friends with whoever they like.

http://lpc.ca/donateforchange

Thank you.

Michael Ignatieff

You can follow Stephen Hui on Twitter at twitter.com/stephenhui.

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