Council of Canadians announces legal action on election irregularities

Council of Canadians announces support for legal actions to overturn
2011 federal election results in seven ridings

Ottawa – The Council of Canadians announced today that it is supporting applications under the Canada Elections Act by individual Canadians seeking to overturn federal election results in seven ridings. The ridings are Don Valley East, Elmwood-Transcona, Nipissing-Tamiskaming, Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar, Vancouver Island North, Winnipeg South Centre and Yukon. The legal actions to annul results are based on evidence of irregularities, fraud and other activities which affected the outcome of the elections.

“It's a sad day for Canadian democracy that we have to take this action,” said Garry Neil, Executive Director of the Council of Canadians. “In response to the survey we launched earlier this month, hundreds of Canadians reported about widespread dirty tricks. We believe the evidence demonstrates that the voter suppression campaign affected the outcome in at least the seven ridings in which we are supporting applications.”

“In the week before the election I received a recorded telephone message stating that, due to higher than anticipated voter turnout, my polling location had changed,” said Peggy Walsh Craig, an applicant from the riding of Nipissing-Timiskaming. “When I first got that call I was confused and thought it was from Elections Canada. It was only only a few weeks ago that I realized the call about the change in polling location was fraudulent. While I was able to vote, it is clear that many others in my riding received these misleading calls and this has affected the outcome of the election.”

“The right to vote is fundamental to a democratic society and one guaranteed under Canada’s constitution,” said Steven Shrybman, a public interest lawyer who is legal counsel to the applicants in this matter. “The Canada Elections Act gives effect to that right by empowering electors to seek a court order restoring that democratic franchise where it has been fraudulently or illegally taken from them.”

“We still do not believe this is the final installment in the robo-calls affair. We look forward to finding out exactly what happened and who is responsible. As part of this effort we continue to invite Canadians to share their experiences with us,” concluded Mr. Neil.

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For media inquiries:

Dylan Penner, Media Officer, Council of Canadians, (613) 795-8685, dpenner@canadians.org
Twitter: @CouncilOfCDNs, Facebook