Push by Conservative Senators has all the elements of a marvelous yarn
The push by Conservative Senators to amend Stephen Harper’s Elections Act had all the elements of a marvelous yarn. The unelected Senators had taken their revenge, biting back and riding in on their white steed to save democracy, showing their relevancy and putting the government on its heels. Unfortunately, it is nonsense. What Conservative […]
Harper’s (Un)Fair Elections Act could spark voter surge
POWELL RIVER, B.C.—The Harper government seems intent on proving to its detractors that things can always get worse. They’ve one-upped themselves with the farce called the Fair Elections Act. It has been described as a direct threat to the right to vote and an assault on democracy by the very people our democracy assigns […]
To vouch or not to vouch: that is the question
TORONTO—Editorialists, academics, opposition parties, election officials, and representatives of various groups have criticized the federal government’s Elections Act. They claim it undermines Canadian democracy and violates the constitutionally entrenched right to vote. Elections acts are fundamentally different from other forms of legislation such trade treaties, budgets, or the bills dealing with veterans, drugs, and […]
‘Most of major attacks on democracy in C-23 left untouched by Senators’ in committee report, say NDP, Libs
PARLIAMENT HILL—A puzzling aspect has emerged over nine amendments Senate Conservatives recommended to the controversial government bill that would radically alter federal election law: why would the Senators ignore a widely-denounced clause that could prevent tens of thousands of electors from casting ballots in the next election, while urging the government to remove a party […]
Senate committee’s proposed changes to feds’ elections bill look like a lifeline for Poilievre
PARLIAMENT HILL—A Senate committee on Tuesday proposed amendments to the Harper government’s controversial election legislation that looked more like a lifeline for besieged Minister of State for Democratic Reform Minister Pierre Poilievre than a response to nearly unanimous opposition to the bill that MPs and Senators heard during more than three weeks of condensed […]
Harper defence of vouching prohibition includes voters who qualified to vote that way
PARLIAMENT HILL – Prime Minister Stephen Harper included more than 500,000 electors who cast ballots in 2011 through vouching or use of voter information cards as ID—both of which the government wants to prohibit in its new election law—when he defended the legislation Wednesday by saying more than 14 million Canadians were able to produce […]
Conservative MP claims Elections Canada ‘leaks’ reason behind feds moving elections commissioner to Director of Public Prosecutions Office
PARLIAMENT HILL—A government backbencher, whose razor-thin victory in the 2011 general election came under scrutiny in a Federal Court challenge, claims “leaks” from within Elections Canada led to explosive news reports about fraudulent robocalls during the election and are likely one of the reasons the government wants to transfer Elections Canada’s investigative branch to the […]
Senate to pass feds’ controversial elections overhaul bill by end of June: Carignan
PARLIAMENT HILL—The government majority in the Senate has set the end of June as the deadline to pass one of the most controversial bills the Conservatives have introduced in eight years—election amendment legislation that critics claim will deny tens of thousands of electors the right to vote and prohibit Elections Canada campaigns and advertising […]
Neufeld says more than 100,000 to be disenfranchised under feds’ election bill, will testify at House Affairs Committee next week
PARLIAMENT HILL—The opposition parties have former B.C. elections chief Harry Neufeld at the top of their witness lists for testimony on proposed Conservative election law after he warned that “well over 100,000” electors will be denied their right to vote if the government goes ahead with plans to prohibit voter vouching for electors with no […]
Feds didn’t like Elections Canada’s 2008 election campaign to ‘vote, shape your world’
PARLIAMENT HILL—The government has disclosed the type of Elections Canada advertising campaign the Conservatives want to prohibit under controversial legislation to radically amend federal election law—a 25-second video that contrasts urban pollution and emissions to an evergreen forest as it urges youth to “vote, shape your world.” A government official, who did not want […]
