Yesterday, I received an email blast from the Liberal Party, signed by Douglas Ferguson, President of the Liberal Party of Canada:

Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion recently asked Canadians to take part in an open and honest debate about shifting taxes from things we want more of, to things we want less of. I’m pleased to say that throughout the country, Canadians have responded in great numbers.

Unfortunately, this positive approach to combating climate change has fallen on deaf ears within the senior ranks of the Conservative Party. The Conservatives have decided to go negative, buying a multi-million dollar advertising campaign which clearly distorts the Liberal position and neglects to offer an alternative approach.

We cannot allow Canadians to only hear the Conservative Party’s attacks. We must counter their climate change deniers with the facts. We must provide Canadians with the resources to make up their own minds.

Today, I am asking you to join me in this endeavour.  The key to success isn’t the size of your contribution – The key is your participation.

Please make a donation today by clicking on the donation button. You will be adding your name to the millions of Canadians committed to making Canada a greener country.

The link takes you to the general purpose donation page.  In addition to making a donation, there are links to the Victory Fund and the Laurier Club.  The URL in the email link has the parameter "ferguson" attached:

https://www.liberal.ca/invest_e.aspx?typecode=ferguson

The Liberals will be able to get some sense of the effectiveness of the campaign in terms of generating visits, as well as generated revenue. But then maybe again, there is something more to it.

Clearly this fundraising effort is designed to raise revenue for an advertising campaign:

We must counter their climate change deniers with the facts.

This might be a sign that the Liberals are close to releasing the details of a carbon tax.  Rumors suggest that the unveiling will come next Wednesday.

The email plea is a bit of a soft sell:

Today, I am asking you to join me in this endeavour.  The key to success isn’t the size of your contribution – The key is your participation.

Compare this with an email from nine days ago.  The Liberal Party asking for cash for the Victory Fund:

In order to win the next election, we need to ensure that the Liberal Party and Liberal riding associations have the resources to win nationally and locally.  We know the Conservatives have millions to spend as they struggle to cling to power.  We cannot let them succeed.

By joining the Victory Fund, Liberals will help build a strong national party and strong local riding associations.  After the tax credit is applied, the actual cost of a $10 monthly donation is only $2.50!

Two pleas inside of two weeks.  One pushing hard for cash, the other hoping for better "participation".

On June 4, Liberals were hit up for contributions to the party, for the purpose of ensuring that the Liberals win the next election.  The size of the contribution is played up.

On June 12, Liberals were hit up for contributions to the party, for the purpose of ensuring that the Liberals can advertise their carbon tax.  Participation is what matters.

I wondered about the difference.  So I checked the Liberal Party privacy policy:

We only use your personal information to communicate with you about the Liberal Party of Canada and its activities, as well as to provide you with news and information. We do not sell your personal information to anyone under any circumstances.

The information you provide when you make a contribution to the Liberal Party of Canada, other than your credit card information and telephone number, will be communicated to Elections Canada in accordance with the Canada Elections Act. Once your online contribution has been fully processed, your credit card information will be destroyed.

Contrast that with this line from the Conservative Party privacy policy:

We will not sell your personal information that you have chosen to provide us, nor will we disclose it to third parties except as required by the Elections Act.

The Conservatives do not disclose information with third parties, which covers both selling and sharing information.  The Liberals only promise not to sell information to third parties.  Information will be used to provide "news and information".

Who provides the "news and information"?  Actually, a strict reading of the text of the Liberal Party privacy policy doesn't identify the Liberal Party as the sole provider of this "news and information".  Just that the personal information will be used by the Liberals so that you get that news and information.

The NDP makes a similar promise as the Conservatives -- no sharing of information with third parties.

So all this is rolling around in my head, and I start to think about how the Liberal Party could use personal information of people motivated to do something concrete about promoting the carbon tax, to the point of donating money.  Remember, the Liberal Party knows who they are because the "ferguson" code tells me they donated via the carbon tax email blast.

As it says in earlier in the email, the participation is the "key to success".  How can mere participation be the key to success?  Cold, hard cash is the key to success, right?

Certainly, cash is a big problem for the Liberal Party.  The Liberal Party doesn't have the money to spend on a big advertising campaign.  The Liberal Party just finished asking for money nine days ago.  Some of the donors might have already hit their annual limit.  They may have more to give if it means promoting the carbon tax, but those who have hit their limits can't give to the Liberal Party.

The Liberal Party has information, but not a lot of money for advertising, and the Liberal Party can't directly convert that information into more money advertising by selling the information.

But can the Liberal Party use the information to propel advertising?

So I have to wonder whether it would be legal for the Liberals to share the data they have from the "ferguson" coded donations with third party groups who are supporters of the carbon tax.  As long as the information is used to "provide news and information", it might be ok.

The David Suzuki Foundation leaps to mind.  The David Suzuki Foundation explicitly admits to sharing personal information with third party groups:

Personal information of individuals who donate less than $100 per year may be made available to other non-profit organizations unless you request otherwise. This process of trading information with other like-minded organizations is common and an important way for us to solicit new funds to help our work continue.

It is interesting that the information traded comes from the pool of people who didn't donate a large amount, in this case, under a hundred dollars.  Perhaps the idea is that these people are likely to have more resources that can be tapped for donations.  Or maybe you just don't want to annoy the thousand-dollar-donors.  Or maybe you want to keep the thousand-dollar-donors for yourself.  In any case, it echoes the comment in the Liberal email that the amount donated did not have to be large, but that participation is what counts:

You will be adding your name to the millions of Canadians committed to making Canada a greener country.

Could environmental advocacy groups use this information in some way?  Would these groups be the "resources" provided to Canadians as promised in the email from the Liberal Party?

Would information like that be the currency to support a third-party advertising campaign?  The Liberals want to advertise their carbon tax.  Or more generally, they want the carbon tax advertised, but it doesn't have to be by the Liberals.  Imagine if the David Suzuki Foundation went beyond briefings in support of a carbon tax and into actual advertising.  Advertisements might qualify as public service announcements.  Advertisements might count as "news and information".

How could the David Suzuki Foundation be convinced to pay for it?  Well, if the Foundation received a new list of names of people from across the country who are motivated to spend money in support of environmental initiatives, that would be worth something.  That could be worth a lot as a potentially lucrative source of new funding.  The David Suzuki Foundaiton admits that sharing personal information is a fund-raising mechanism the Foundation uses in conjunction with other "like-minded" and "non-profit" organizations. 

Is the Liberal Party under Stephane Dion a like-minded non-profit organization in the eyes of the David Suzuki Foundation?

Don't worry about the size of the contribution.  We just want your name.  We want millions of names.