Sean Devlin, creator of the viral comedy website ShitHarperDid.com, in Vancouver on March 26, 2013.Daniel Bitonti/The Globe and Mail
Sean Devlin says when he launched ShitHarperDid.com just before the 2011 federal election, he wasn't prepared for the response it would ultimately receive.
The website, which featured a long list of what Mr. Devlin calls Prime Minister Stephen Harper's "worst" policy decisions, each packaged with a humorous joke, received 4.1-million views in its first 72 hours.
"We weren't ready for it," Mr. Devlin admits. "We then had to go back to our normal jobs after [the election] and the project kind of fell by the wayside."
But he says he won't let that happen again.
On Monday, Mr. Devlin relaunched the website, a beefed-up version of the original ShitHarperDid.com. Mr. Devlin says the new website places a heavier emphasis on getting people politically organized.
"What we're looking to do now is re-engage people with this information because this government continues to do all sorts of stuff that's shocking and the majority of people in this country are opposed to," Mr. Devlin said.
Mr. Devlin and his team, including the improv group The Sunday Service, as well as Brigette DePape, the former Senate page who held up a "Stop Harper" sign in the Senate chamber during the 2011 Throne Speech, have spent the last few months touring universities across the country to promote the new website and give workshops on political mobilization.
The new ShitHarperDid.com has information on a variety of topics, including the environment, women's issues, and immigration. Mr. Devlin says the website will be updated regularly with infographics and videos, with the same type of humour, of course, that resonated with so many people the first time around.
But more than just simply engaging with the material on the website, Mr. Devlin says he also hopes people will use the site to engage with each other on the biggest issues affecting the country.
"We need people to plug into others in their community and start to organize." Mr. Devlin said. "In the short term, the ultimate goal is to get Harper out of government. But the community we build will hopefully help usher in a new government ... we hope [that community] will be prepared to get that government to account and push for the systemic changes we need to get through – things like the climate crisis, the environmental crisis and the economic crisis."