Don’t undermine Elections Canada

March 19, 2014

The changes to Canada’s federal elections proposed in the Fair Elections Act (Bill C-23), threaten to “seriously damage the fairness and transparency of federal elections and diminish Canadians’ political participation,” according to a collective of 160 Canadian professors. The group, comprised of academics specializing in “the principles and institutions of constitutional democracy,” released an open letter Tuesday requesting the federal government “heed calls for wider consultation in vetting this Bill.”

 

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On Thurday, March 20th 2014, the Department is hosting a discussion on the Fair Election Act:

“Fair or Unfair?: A Discussion of Proposed Changes to the Election Act”
Where professors Peter Loewen, Melissa Williams and Nelson Wiseman will discuss the Fair Elections Act and the potential impact it will have on Canada’s next federal election.

 

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Excerpt from the letter:

“We, the undersigned — professors at Canadian universities who study the principles and institutions of constitutional democracy — believe that the Fair Elections Act (Bill C-23), if passed, would damage the institution at the heart of our country’s democracy: voting in federal elections.

We urge the Government to heed calls for wider consultation in vetting this Bill. While we agree that our electoral system needs some reforms, this Bill contains proposals that would seriously damage the fairness and transparency of federal elections and diminish Canadians’ political participation.

Beyond our specific concerns about the Bill’s provisions (see below), we are alarmed at the lack of due process in drafting the Bill and in rushing it through Parliament. We see no justification for introducing legislation of such pivotal importance to our democracy without significant consultation with Elections Canada, opposition parties, and the public at large.”

 

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The following professors from the Department of Political Science signed the open letter to the government:

Melissa Williams, Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto

Ryan Balot, Professor of Political Science and Classics, University of Toronto

Sylvia Bashevkin, Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto, and Past President, Canadian Political Science Association

Ronald Beiner, Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto

David Cameron, Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto

Joseph Carens, Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto

Simone Chambers, Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto

Rodney Haddow, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto

Rebecca Kingston, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto

Lawrence Leduc, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Toronto

Jennifer Nedelsky, Professor of Law and Political Science, University of Toronto

Peter Russell, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Toronto, and Past President, Canadian Political Science Association

Robert Vipond, Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto

Graham White, Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto at Mississauga, and Past President, Canadian Political Science Association