Fixed election dates don’t work

The chief electoral officer of Canada is the same person who recently ruled that having an election on a religious holiday was kosher. Politicians of all stripes complained about religious insensitivity but the election date remained. Under a law passed 11 years ago, only the chief electoral officer can change the date. That law should be scrapped.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, and People's Party Leader Maxime Bernier. The decision to move to a fixed election date and take the power of election dates out of the hands of politicians is just wrong, writes Sheila Copps. The Hill Times photographs by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY SHEILA COPPS

August 5, 2019

OTTAWA—The fixed election date does not work. The decision by the chief electoral officer of Canada to go ahead with a date that conflicts with an orthodox Jewish holiday is bad. Not only will it deny some people the right to vote on election day. Three of the four advance polls also deprive the...

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