2025 Canadian General Election

[Mihairokov]

They should just introduce a refundable deposit of a few hundred dollars to get on the ballot. That would put these clowns out of business. They're not accomplishing anything other than inconveniencing the citizens of the ridings they choose to target.

Pay $1000 to register and you get it back if you get 2% of the vote. Simple. You don't even have to make them pay it up front. Simply require them to lodge a letter of credit from a bank whereby the bank promises to pay the $1000 if you don't make it. The cost of the letter will reflect the bank's view of the likelihood of you making it. So PP will get the letter for a penny, and my cousin (who I'm sure will be on the ballot again) would have to pay $1000.

This would be deemed a barrier to participation in democracy that the courts would likely shoot down. There's currently a petition going around by a CPC MP from Manitoba I believe asking for $500 to run, which would also be shot down by the courts.

Instead it would make more sense for every candidate to have a different official agent to represent them "legally" as candidates. That would resolve a lot of this, IMO.

 

[Richard White]

This would be deemed a barrier to participation in democracy that the courts would likely shoot down. There's currently a petition going around by a CPC MP from Manitoba I believe asking for $500 to run, which would also be shot down by the courts.

Instead it would make more sense for every candidate to have a different official agent to represent them "legally" as candidates. That would resolve a lot of this, IMO.

I wonder if the not-withstanding clause would be applicable here.

I see your point with it being a barrier however it also acts a barrier if you have a ballot longer than iJustine's AT&T bill.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Rural Alberta has a pretty strong aversion to the Liberals.

Poilievre is going to win, no question. But I predict that through smart campaigning from Carney, it will be less of a margin than the chap who gave up the seat.

 

[picard102]

longer than iJustine's AT&T bill.

Jesus that was a deep callback.

 

[Richard White]

Jesus that was a deep callback.

Not to get too far off topic but I remember when she took over from Justin Kan on Justin.TV.

 

[evandyk]

This would be deemed a barrier to participation in democracy that the courts would likely shoot down. There's currently a petition going around by a CPC MP from Manitoba I believe asking for $500 to run, which would also be shot down by the courts.

Instead it would make more sense for every candidate to have a different official agent to represent them "legally" as candidates. That would resolve a lot of this, IMO.

It's possible. I don't think it's very clear on the wording of the Charter that you have a right to run without putting any sort of skin in the game. The Charter says:

3 Every citizen of Canada has the right to vote in an election of members of the House of Commons or of a legislative assembly and to be qualified for membership therein.

Does "qualified for membership" mean you can't impose any minor barriers to running?

I wonder if the not-withstanding clause would be applicable here.

I see your point with it being a barrier however it also acts a barrier if you have a ballot longer than iJustine's AT&T bill.

The notwithstanding clause can't override s. 3 of the Charter.

 

[lenaitch]

It's possible. I don't think it's very clear on the wording of the Charter that you have a right to run without putting any sort of skin in the game. The Charter says:

3 Every citizen of Canada has the right to vote in an election of members of the House of Commons or of a legislative assembly and to be qualified for membership therein.

Does "qualified for membership" mean you can't impose any minor barriers to running?



The notwithstanding clause can't override s. 3 of the Charter.

This has been dealt with by a number of provincial appellate courts (not sure about SCOC). Some restrictions have been ruled reasonable. The Alberta court ruled that a deposit requirement was unconstitutional.

 

[adma]

Poilievre is going to win, no question. But I predict that through smart campaigning from Carney, it will be less of a margin than the chap who gave up the seat.

Actually, from what I gather, the bigger threat might be from independent candidates running as locals (Bonnie Critchley, Sarah Spanier)--it could be a "Bobbi Ann Brady" circumstance awaiting PP...

 

[evandyk]

This has been dealt with by a number of provincial appellate courts (not sure about SCOC). Some restrictions have been ruled reasonable. The Alberta court ruled that a deposit requirement was unconstitutional.

You can waive the deposit if you live in or have some sort of concrete connection to the riding. There's probably a million ways to address the abusive nature of this without imposing any impediment on someone who is legitimately interested in running to represent the people of the riding.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I don't think the Charter is designed with the notion of a large number of unserious candidates coordinating their candidacies to frustrate the voting process. This sort of behaviour is more like a single-issue party putting 100 candidate in a race, and there is a case to be made that this sort of behaviour should be prohibited (at best) and punished (as a deterrent). The fact that it happened to someone I don't support doesn't change the cheapening of the vote this entails - elections are sober, serious events that should be treated to the utmost in integrity and "sanctity" - it's not entertainment.

AoD

 

[evandyk]

You don't even need to prohibit or punish it. You just need to introduce a little bit of friction to weed out people like my cousin who do it because they don't have to put any skin in the game.

 

[lenaitch]

You can waive the deposit if you live in or have some sort of concrete connection to the riding. There's probably a million ways to address the abusive nature of this without imposing any impediment on someone who is legitimately interested in running to represent the people of the riding.

With respect to federal elections:

News Releases and Media Advisories

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www.elections.ca

I'm not aware that it has been overturned, stayed or suspended.

 

[christiesplits]

Official Elections Canada results have been released, including poll results.

Here is a great resource, Election Atlas, which has interactive maps of the riding and poll results. Fun for politics and map nerds!