Winston: Time to reinstate election deposits in Canada
Article content
The deposits were returned after the election, as long as candidates received a specified percentage of the total number of votes cast for the winner. Any candidates who did not meet the declared level of votes forfeited their deposits.
Article content
Article content
Article content
The stated purpose of the regulation was to cut down on frivolous candidates or parties with no realistic chance of winning a seat. Most countries around the world still require an election deposit, though details such as the precise amount and the proportion of votes required for it to be returned vary.
Article content
Not so in Canada, which stopped requiring deposits in federal elections eight years ago.
Article content
On Oct. 25, 2017, the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta (Szuchewycz v. Canada) ruled that the $1,000 deposit requirement for prospective candidates in federal elections infringed on the rights outlined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (section 3).
Article content
The reference was to the provision that 'every citizen of Canada has the right to vote in an election of members of the House of Commons or of a legislative assembly and to be qualified for membership therein.' It also noted that the decision was binding 'until it is stayed by a court or overturned on appeal.'
Article content
The cancellation of the deposit requirement for prospective candidates was said to 'ensure greater accessibility to the election process.' Possibly that's true for some candidates, but surely not for voters.
Article content
Instead, it has made it easy and free for the Longest Ballot Committee (LBC) to develop its ridiculous and treacherous goal of delighting in hampering elections by throwing in multiple unqualified, non-serious candidates, usually nominated by the same electors.
Article content
This tactic was used in the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton in April's federal election, resulting in more than 90 candidates on the ballot.
Article content
While these joke candidates have no hope of winning and no intention of appearing in the riding for which they are nominated, they harm the election process and all serious candidates.
Article content
They also defy the goal of ensuring greater accessibility. A ballot that is a metre or two long is unmanageable, particularly for anyone who is visually impaired or physically handicapped.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Vancouver Sun
14 minutes ago
- Vancouver Sun
B.C. legislator shocked by American senator's 'nonsense' pitch to join U.S.
A B.C. legislator said he went from disappointed to enraged after receiving a pitch from a Republican state senator for Canada's four western provinces to join the United States. Brennan Day, with the Opposition B.C. Conservative Party, said his office had to first confirm the authenticity of the 'nonsense' letter from Maine Senator Joseph Martin after receiving it last week. Martin's three-page pitch said if B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba were to seek admission to the United States after referendum votes, it would have to be as full American states. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'This would not be annexation. It would be adoption — welcoming home kindred spirits, who were born under a different flag but who desire to live under our Constitution and accept our responsibilities, customs, and traditions,' he wrote in the letter, which Day made public. Martin said in the letter that his appeal is not a 'fantasy of empire' but a 'vision deeply rooted in American tradition' that would give the four provinces a chance to 'leave behind failing ideologies.' 'For too long, Canadian citizens have been subjected to an illusion of freedom administered through bureaucratic means,' he wrote, adding that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, 'while lofty in rhetoric, provides no absolute protection.' He said this was in contrast to the U.S. Bill of Rights. Martin said 'millions of people currently frustrated by central authority, moral decay, and bureaucratic suffocation' would be rewarded by 'liberty' if the four provinces were to join the United States. 'The welcome mat is out,' he concluded. Day, the MLA for Courtenay–Comox, said the most shocking part of the letter was its attack on Canadian institutions, like the Charter of Rights, parliamentary government, the monarchy, bilingualism, multiculturalism, and the dismissal of those cornerstones as 'political baggage.' Day said Martin needed to look at 'how heavy his luggage' is. He said Martin's party was 'hauling around wheeled trunks' of baggage in the United States where the Constitution was 'being torn up by Republicans.' Day said it was not clear why Martin wrote to him, but suspected it might be due to 'rhetoric' coming out of Alberta that led Martin to believe British Columbians would be interested. Martin did not respond to a request for comment left by voicemail and text. Day said he had written a response to Martin, in which he acknowledged that Canada has problems. 'But we don't fix them by surrendering our identity, as you suggest,' Day said in his response. 'We fix them by doing what Canadians have always done — rolling up our sleeves, listening to each other, and finding common ground.' Day said the 'overwhelming majority of Canadians' like themselves just as they are. 'We have got a lot of work to do in improving our services, and making sure that we are spending our money wisely, and getting good value for it,' Day said. 'But I don't think anybody here looks south and goes, 'we want more of that.''
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Solidarity rally for Muslim teen attacked on bus
Community members held a solidarity rally for the young woman who was the victim of an Islamophobic attack on OC Transpo. CTV's Josh Marano reports.
National Post
6 hours ago
- National Post
Wife's ADHD cited by Federal Court in reasons for delaying deportation of man from India
A Federal Court judge has temporarily stopped the deportation of a man from India over Ottawa's handling of health concerns by his Canadian wife who has ADHD, and financial problems his departure would cause his sister. Article content Jagjit Singh, a citizen of India, came to Canada in 2021 on a temporary resident visa and made a refugee claim for asylum. While that claim was being processed, he met a Canadian woman, in November 2024, and married her the following January. Article content Article content Article content The woman, identified only by the initials L.B., in the court decision, submitted a spousal sponsorship for her new husband to become a permanent resident of Canada a couple of weeks later, after which he withdrew his refugee claim. Article content Article content While one arm of the immigration system was processing the spousal sponsorship, another arm was dealing with a man who was no longer seeking refugee protection and so had overstayed his original visa. Article content In May his wife was notified she met the eligibility requirements to sponsor Singh and, in July, Singh was given a removal date for August. He asked Canada Border Services Agency officials to delay his deportation until after his wife's application was adjudicated. Article content CBSA refused his request. Singh then sought intervention from the Federal Court to delay his removal. Article content His case was heard by Federal Court Justice Avvy Yao-Yao Go on Tuesday and her decision was released the same day. Article content Lawyers for Singh claimed five grounds for a delay, including various ways that the CBSA mishandled and misapplied evidence in the case to a degree suggesting they had not reviewed the submission Singh had made. Article content Article content The judge said not all of Singh's grounds were persuasive, but only one serious issue was needed for a stay to be granted, and she saw one. Article content Article content 'There is at least one serious issue with respect to the Officer's assessment of the evidence the Applicant submitted in support of his deferral request, and the Officer's interpretation of the scope of their discretion,' Go wrote in her decision. Article content She found the border officer did not properly consider the issue of irreparable harm. Article content 'Irreparable harm refers to harm which cannot be compensated in money; it is the nature rather than the magnitude of the harm,' her judgment says. It doesn't have to be the person being deported that is harmed, it can be 'specific harm that is demonstrated in regard to any persons directly affected by the removal, and who will be remaining in Canada.' Article content In this case, Go found that there was evidence of harm to Singh's wife, who has ADHD, and to Singh's sister, who will suffer financially because the couple pay to live in her house. The CBSA officer's dismissal of the concerns was not based on evidence before the court, Go said.
