NUPGE joins prominent individuals and groups to stop the Unfair Elections Act

In an open letter, the Bill is described as “a blatant attempt by the Harper government to stack the deck in favour of the Conservatives in the next federal election” and calls on Members of Parliament to “not allow this new elections law to pass without removing the parts that would legalize voter suppression.”

Ottawa (10 Apr. 2014) — The already widespread opposition to Bill C-23, the Unfair Elections Act, just got bigger. The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) has joined a large group of prominent individuals and organizations to issue a public letter calling for the Bill to be significantly amended or scrapped.

Individual signatories on the open letter include David Crombie, Margaret Atwood, David Suzuki, Allan Gregg, Michael Ondaatje, Judy Rebick, Tantoo Cardinal, Sarah Slean and Brigette DePape.

Blatant attempt to stack the elections deck

The letter describes the Bill as “a blatant attempt by the Harper government to stack the deck in favour of the Conservatives in the next federal election” and calls on Members of Parliament to “not allow this new elections law to pass without removing the parts that would legalize voter suppression.”

Some key concerns about the Bill

The letter raises eight key concerns about Bill C-23, including how it would make it harder for people to vote and make it harder to catch perpetrators of election fraud, such as Pierre Poutine. It also would disproportionately impact students and youth, Aboriginal people, seniors, people on low-incomes, and other groups of people who the Conservatives know are unlikely to vote for them.

Organizations that have signed the open letter include NUPGE, ACORN Canada, Alternatives, the Canadian Peace Alliance, the Canadian Teachers' Federation, the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, the Canadian Federation of Students, Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice, the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition, Coalition Pas de démocratie sans voix, Confédération des syndicats nationaux — CSN, the Council of Canadians, the Canadian Union of Public and General Employees, la Fédération des femmes du Québec, Le Conseil québécois LGBT, Leadnow, Ligue des droits et libertés, OpenMedia, the Polaris Institute, Public Service Alliance of Canada, Public Interest Alberta, the United Food and Commercial Workers (Canada), Unifor, and the Union of Veterans Affairs Employees.

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