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If you have not heard yet (CBC):
I think it is ludicrous to change the election date just because it falls on a minority religious holiday that also just so happens to restrict voting for some reason. There are other options for those affected to vote, they can request a mail-in ballot or as Scheer points out at that riding's Elections Canada office on any weekday during the writ period, so five whole weeks before the election date they can vote. I think Elections Canada has made a reasonable attempt to accommodate them.
The only reason the candidate is doing this is because it might hurt her chances of winning. Also if it does have to move you can throw out all the organization and taxpayer money spent by the government and parties based on the current date.
The Federal Court has ordered the chief electoral officer to review his decision to not recommend a change in the scheduled federal election date — October 21 — which coincides with a Jewish holiday.
Orthodox Jewish candidate Chani Aryeh-Bain, who is running for the Conservatives in the Toronto-area riding of Eglinton-Lawrence, and Ira Walfish, an Orthodox Jewish political activist, said Elections Canada's Stéphane Perrault did not properly consider their rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
"... This judicial review is granted as the overall decision of the CEO does not demonstrate the hallmarks of transparency, intelligibility and justification, as it is not possible to determine if he undertook the necessary proportionate balancing between the applicant's charter rights and the exercise of his statutory duty," says the Federal Court ruling.
The current election date coincides with the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret, which begins Oct. 20 and ends Oct. 22. Aryeh-Bain argued that during the holiday, observant Orthodox Jews must refrain from a number of activities — including voting and campaigning — and cannot ask others to work for them.
According to the judgment, the Oct. 12 advance polling day conflicts with the Sabbath, while the Oct. 14 advance polling day coincides with the festival of Sukkot, a Jewish holiday.
I think it is ludicrous to change the election date just because it falls on a minority religious holiday that also just so happens to restrict voting for some reason. There are other options for those affected to vote, they can request a mail-in ballot or as Scheer points out at that riding's Elections Canada office on any weekday during the writ period, so five whole weeks before the election date they can vote. I think Elections Canada has made a reasonable attempt to accommodate them.
The only reason the candidate is doing this is because it might hurt her chances of winning. Also if it does have to move you can throw out all the organization and taxpayer money spent by the government and parties based on the current date.
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