THE www.keremeosreview.com PM Agreement #40012521
Review Vol.16 Number 14
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Serving the communities of Keremeos, Cawston, Okanagan Falls and Kaleden
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KEREMEOS AMBASSADORS
Afternoon tea at Elks Hall See page 9
DAM PROPOSAL DISCUSSED
Photo by Steve Arstad
Village council, planning society hear from Fortis See page 5
SURVEY ON SEVENTH AVE
Village surveys Seventh Avenue sidewalk See page 12
Lee McFadyen, George Venables, Donna Stocker, Wendy Dowle and Hilda Lee gathered at Memorial Park on March 25 to participate in “Let People Vote” a national day of action campaign to raise awareness of changes to the Elections Act. Voters also descended on a number of Conservative constituency offices across the country to present an 83,000 signature petition.
Protest in the park over Elections Act changes By Steve Arstad news@keremeosreview.com A small group of local citizens dedicated to democratic rights and freedoms met briefly at Memorial Park on March 25 in solidarity of a national protest called “Let People Vote.” Across the country, citizens gathered at 25 MP offices to deliver a petition and protest legislation known as the Fair Elections Act. Local activist George Venables said the legislation will suppress the vote because of safeguards introduced that will
do away with vouching and voter registration cards. “It will also limit the powers of Elections Canada to investigate irregularities and election fraud,” he said. “With less and less people voting, we should be doing anything we can to get people out to vote,” said Lee McFadyen, who was also present in Memorial Park last Tuesday. “We need to retain the integrity of the vote. I’ve witnessed vouching and never saw anything wrong.” McFadyen said the possibility of irregularities occurring in rural areas were slight com-
pared to larger centres, where there might be more opportunity for election fraud to occur. She felt the few cases that might occur didn’t warrant the damage this legislation would cause in terms of lowering voter turnout. Protesters feel that Fair Elections Act legislation will suppress voter rights by making vouching and voter identification cards unacceptable forms of ID at a polling station. It is feared these restrictions will result in decreased voter turnout, as similar legislation has done in the U.S. They would also like to have
Election Canada be given the power to compel testimony from political operatives in order to properly investigate complaints deriving from dirty tricks campaigns such as the Robocall scandal. The purpose of the March 25 rally was to highlight these concerns to the public and show solidarity with MPs who are also campaigning against the legislation. The “Let People Vote” national day of action was supported and facilitated by Leadnow.ca, the Council of Canadians and the Canadian Federation of Students.