Brigette DePape and Sh#% Harper Did crew applying for government contract

Last month, the Globe and Mail reported that the Harper government has put a call out for a "creative contractor" to produce the next wave of Economic Action Plan commercials.

Brigette DePape and her Sh#% Harper did (SHD) group want the job. They've already sent in their application and are now looking for 10,000 people to sign on as references.

"We're looking for everyone to become a reference for our job application because the Conservatives are hiring and we want the job," DePape told Yahoo! Canada News.

"These millions of dollars should be spent on restoring programs that people need and love — things like Environment Canada, the Food Inspection Agency and and many other programs."

It's a gimmick, but a clever one.

[ Related: PMO allowed Tory interns to pose as protesters at Justin Trudeau speech ]

DePape — the former Senate page who stole headlines in June 2011 when she held up a "Stop Harper" sign during the majority government's inaugural throne speech — acknowledges that SHD doesn't actually expect to get the job.

She adds, however, that this is about bringing attention to a waste of tax dollars on partisan ads — since 2011, the Harper government has spent over $113-million on promotion of their Economic Action Plan.

The application is a follow-up campaign for SHD. Last month, the group crowd-funded an anti-'Economic Action Plan' ad and raised $76,412 which was enough money to broadcast it during a Hockey Night in Canada playoff game.

[ Related: Anti-Stephen Harper group raises enough money to air attack ad on Hockey Night in Canada ]

DePape — who joined the political activist group about six months ago — says SHD is a part-time endeavour for her.

"I started out working in the Parliament and then was just completely disillusioned by the Harper government that was attacking the rights of people, of women, of children, of people of colour and young people," the now Vancouverite says.

"Now I'm really excited to be working with [SHD] because...I really see it as a way to realize that dream of stopping Harper in a really fun way."

Two years removed from the "Stop Harper" incident, DePape says it was one of the best thing she's ever done and continues to believe that Canada needs an Arab Spring of sorts.

"I believe we need we need a flowering," she said.

"We need a flowering of peoples movements to really create a fundamental transformation. Very immediately [that means] stopping Harper and stopping the Economic Action Plan ads and this wasteful spending and this corruption.

"But it also means a more fundamental cultural transformation of people realizing their power, feeling empowered to bring about change."

The government is expected to award the Economic Action Plan contract sometime this fall.

(Photo is a screen grab from actionplan.gc.ca)

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