A group of musicians hoping to oust the Harper government says it is selling out concerts across the country.
Canadian musician Dave Bidini told CTV鈥檚 Power Play on Wednesday that the concert series, known as #ImagineOct20th, has sold out numerous shows, including its concerts on Wednesday night in Toronto, Hamilton, Ont., and Halifax.
鈥淭onight will be sold out right across the country. I think we鈥檝e struck a chord in people鈥檚 curiosity and interest,鈥� said Bidini, founding member of the rock band Rheostatics. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a town hall, it鈥檚 not an all-candidates meeting. It鈥檚 just people being together in sharing our concerns about where we鈥檙e headed in Canada.鈥�
The series, known as , looks forward to the day after the Oct. 19 election as a 鈥渘ew Canadian chapter鈥� without Conservative Leader Stephen Harper leading the country. It has organized a number of events, concerts and public meetings across Canada leading up to election day, and attracted big-name Canadian musicians including Feist and Dan Mangan.
Bidini says the series gives participants a chance to share what they鈥檝e heard from fellow Canadians as they cross the country for their work.
鈥淓verywhere we go as artists, especially musicians, we get into the veins of our country. We鈥檙e moving east to west, north to south, through all the small towns, all the communities, and you get a sense of how people feel about the country,鈥� said Bidini.
鈥淓verywhere we turn there鈥檚 dissatisfaction in the disfigurement of the soul and the face of Canada, and the path that we鈥檙e going down -- very paranoid, insecure state of our country.鈥�
The group wants to make sure the voices of all Canadians are heard, 鈥渘ot just politicians in Ottawa, not just Stephen Harper鈥檚 agenda,鈥� said Bidini.
The #ImagineOct20th organizers are particularly concerned about Harper鈥檚 use of music, art and even hockey as 鈥渁 tool of propaganda.鈥�
鈥淗e appears in these contexts to humanize himself,鈥� said Bidini. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 one of the reasons our antipathy towards him and our Conservative government has registered because he鈥檚 sort of pretending to be who we are and he鈥檚 not who we are.鈥�
