Canada elects 34 copyfighters to Parliament

Michael Geist sez, "Boing Boing covered the copyright pledge during the Canadian election campaign. Following last night's election, 34 candidates that supported fair copyright are now Members of Parliament including 11 Liberals and 23 New Democrats."

While copyright reform is unlikely to emerge as a top legislative priority in the current economic environment, there is little doubt that the Conservative minority government will return to the issue (whether Jim Prentice leads that charge as Industry Minister or shifts to Foreign Affairs is a separate matter). With that in mind, having Members of Parliament who will speak out on the need for a balanced approach to copyright that preserves user rights is essential. Coming out of last night's election, 34 candidates who supported the copyright pledge during the campaign were elected – 11 Liberals and 23 New Democrats, covering 8 of 10 provinces (only NB and Saskatchewan do not have a copyright MP). In some ridings – particularly Edmonton-Strathcona where Conservative Rahim Jaffer lost to the NDP's Linda Duncan – it is certainly possible that copyright swung enough votes to help make the difference.

The New Copyright MPs

(Thanks, Michael!)