HALIFAX – The director of Democracy Watch says if the Nova Scotia Chief Minister had more power to impose fines, cases like giving out Tim Hortons gift cards to voters during a campaign could be avoided.
The Nova Scotia Liberal Party has filed a complaint with Elections Nova Scotia after a Progressive Conservative campaign manager in the riding of Lunenburg gave out gift cards, redeemable for a cup of coffee, at a service behind the wheel while candidate Susan Corkum-Greugach greeted the voters. at the other end.
The campaign manager resigned earlier this week, saying he dealt 25 cards at $2.07 each, for a total of $51.75.
Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch, says Nova Scotia should reform the law to allow the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to impose fines immediately in such cases, even minor ones. , rather than engaging in long, costly – and often abandoned – cases. – legal proceedings.
The Liberals argued that the distribution of the gift cards violated the Regional Elections Act, which prohibits offering a “bribe” to influence a citizen’s vote.
The party also asked the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia to rule that the incident was corruption under the Electoral Act. A court spokesman, however, said the case would not be heard before the November 26 election.
According to Mr. Conacher, legislative reform would allow summary treatment of similar cases, such as a parking ticket, especially if the offenses are isolated and less serious.
When asked about such reform, Tim Houston, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, said it was important to remember that the person involved in Lunenburg was a volunteer. “I think it’s a very slippery slope to use the justice system as a weapon against a party volunteer who may have made a mistake,” he said.
Mr Conacher does not believe his proposal would prevent voluntary work by political parties. “It just encourages them to be more careful about following the rules and, as a result, you get fairer elections. “
The leaders of the New Democrats and the Liberals did not immediately comment on such legislative reform.
Unlike the federal system, Nova Scotia does not have an “election commissioner” responsible for imposing administrative sanctions under the Provincial Elections Act. According to Mr Conacher, it is actually better to have two bodies with specific roles – the CEO takes care of managing the vote, while the electoral commissioner focuses on monitoring election law violations.
Naomi Shelton, spokeswoman for Elections Nova Scotia, said the “Tim Hortons matter” was still under investigation.
2024-11-15 05:13:00
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