Rally protests elections act at MP’s office

Posted on March 25, 2014 in Politics // 0 Comments

Eli Pivnick hands petition to MP’s assistant.

NEWS — About two dozen protesters rallied outside MP Cathy McLeod’s constituency office during the lunch hour today to protest the Fair Elections Act.

McLeod was in Ottawa but rally organizer Eli Pivnick handed a staff member a weighty written copy of an online national petition containing almost 83,000 names.

Pivnick, the local organizer for Leadnow, an advocacy group that collected the petition, said the purpose of the rally was to convince McLeod to lobby for changes to the new act.

“If things aren’t changed there’s going to be a backlash,” Pivnick told The Armchair Mayor News. “This is one more nail in the coffin of democracy.”

He said the new election law will discourage voter participation by making it harder for young people, Aboriginal people and low-income people to take part in elections.

He said the removal of so-called vouching provisions, changes to fundraising rules and other measures will diminish demoracy.

The rally was one of a number across the country protesting Bill C-23, which the government says will reduce voter fraud.