Marc Mayrand, Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer will have done enough service to the country to earn the Order of Canada when the veil issue is completed and run its petty political course and our politicians shake their collective heads and do the right thing in the right way (for a change?)
As reported in the Globe and Mail today, a truly astonishing thing happened yesterday in the Commons Procedure and House Affairs Committee. All parties yesterday pressured the CEO as a bureaucrat to “adapt” the law they passed in order to force voters to show their face before being permitted to vote. This is so wrong at so many levels it boggles the mind as to how the collective ignorance of those Committee members could manifest itself in such a perverse way.
There is nothing wrong with a law requiring this requirement for citizens to be identified and to show their faces for voter. Even those in the Muslim community most impacted have seen the need for such accommodation. If only that was what our lawmakers required in the legislation they passed earlier this year then it should be implemented by the CEO and Elections Canada. BUT that is not what the law they passed said! And now the politicians seem to be trying to shift the blame to the bureaucracy and by doing so they abdicate their governance responsibility at the same time. Shame on them! AND REMEMBER WE ELECTED THEM!
Mayrand has put the ball back in the political and lawmakers court by telling them clearly and precisely that “One of the conundrums I have here is I am being asked to change the law that was just adopted by Parliament and was debated at length…I am being asked to change the law and forcing electors to choose between two fundamental rights.” WELL SAID SIR!
Mayrand is single handedly forcing the politicians to face up to the consequences of their sloppy work, fuzzy thinking or policy making cowardice. Politicians too often skirt the hard choices of choosing between competing fundamental rights. That at the end of the day is a big part of their job as ELECTED representatives in a mature and modern democracy. They too often try to duck the heavy political lifting and avoid serious philosophical thought on the major policy issues as they superficially pummel each other in Question Period or the media.
As reported in the Globe and Mail today, a truly astonishing thing happened yesterday in the Commons Procedure and House Affairs Committee. All parties yesterday pressured the CEO as a bureaucrat to “adapt” the law they passed in order to force voters to show their face before being permitted to vote. This is so wrong at so many levels it boggles the mind as to how the collective ignorance of those Committee members could manifest itself in such a perverse way.
There is nothing wrong with a law requiring this requirement for citizens to be identified and to show their faces for voter. Even those in the Muslim community most impacted have seen the need for such accommodation. If only that was what our lawmakers required in the legislation they passed earlier this year then it should be implemented by the CEO and Elections Canada. BUT that is not what the law they passed said! And now the politicians seem to be trying to shift the blame to the bureaucracy and by doing so they abdicate their governance responsibility at the same time. Shame on them! AND REMEMBER WE ELECTED THEM!
Mayrand has put the ball back in the political and lawmakers court by telling them clearly and precisely that “One of the conundrums I have here is I am being asked to change the law that was just adopted by Parliament and was debated at length…I am being asked to change the law and forcing electors to choose between two fundamental rights.” WELL SAID SIR!
Mayrand is single handedly forcing the politicians to face up to the consequences of their sloppy work, fuzzy thinking or policy making cowardice. Politicians too often skirt the hard choices of choosing between competing fundamental rights. That at the end of the day is a big part of their job as ELECTED representatives in a mature and modern democracy. They too often try to duck the heavy political lifting and avoid serious philosophical thought on the major policy issues as they superficially pummel each other in Question Period or the media.
The first duty of engaged citizenship is to be an informed voter AND be careful who you vote for.
I'm with you--but it's Mayrand, not Maynard.
ReplyDeletePlease show me where the law explicitly states that individuals can wear veils when they go to vote. My guess is that, with almost every law passed in the country, is that it is open to interpretation. And the Parliament simply does not like the interpretation given to the legislation by the Chief Electoral Officer.
ReplyDeleteI find it hard to believe that the legislation can be interpreted any other way than to require sufficient identification to vote. The Chief Electoral Officer's interpretation would produce absurd results by increasing the possibility of voter fraud.
Only a liberal would argue for handing out the Order of Canada like candy.
Thx dr. dawg...I made the name correction. (blushing)
ReplyDeleteAnon 3:16 - you have made the key point the applicable law is poorly written.
ReplyDeleteThe law as written does not require the removal of a veil for purposes of identity. The alternative is for alternative ID and others to vouch under oath for the person's identity for purposes of voting.
Mayrand made the point that this situation is not inconsistent with other circumstances. Mail-in ballots do not require voters to identify themselves by showing their face.
This is resolved anyway because the Muslim community has agreed to have the veils lifted for the purposes of voting - just as the do for banking and other security purposes.
For politicians to blame Elections Canada for its fidelity to the laws of Parliament - even bad ones - is improper. We elect Parliamentarians to pass the laws and administration to apply them as passed...not how they might wish they were passed.
Fix the law Mr. Prime Minister and quit trying to shift the blame.
It's too bad the liberals did not legislate an appropriate elections law after 13 years of governing. Yet another example of where the Conservatives have to fix liberal mistakes.
ReplyDelete