Young Communists Denounce Elections Canada Anti-Democratic Canceling of the ‘Vote on Campus’ Program

YCL-LJC Central Executive Committee, 8 September 2021

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On August 25, ten days after Governor General Mary Simon approved Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s request to dissolve Parliament, Elections Canada announced they would not continue the “Vote on Campus” program that provided students with both job opportunities and simplified access to register and vote. The justification from Elections Canada is that the public  health measures as well as “the minority government situation” prevent them from running the program. The program was initiated during the 2015 federal election and continued in 2019, and demonstrably helped lead to a surge in youth voting. 

The decision by the Liberal government and Gov. Gen. Mary Simon, who was appointed by the Queen on recommendation of the Liberal government, to call an election using only the legal minimum amount of time (36 days) in the midst of an ongoing global health crisis does provide Elections Canada with more difficult than necessary conditions to do their jobs. However, with the majority of post-secondary institutions coast to coast returning to in-person studies after an entire school year online, Elections Canada should continue the program. If it is supposedly safe enough for campus workers, faculty, and students to return to in-person studies, it should also be safe enough for Elections Canada to employ students on campus and continue this program, which has led to an increased number of young people becoming politically engaged and exercising their rights. 

A petition calling for a reversal of this draconian measure and for the full reinstatement of the program has received over 20,000 signatures. The YCL-LJC calls on all democratic forces to mobilise to restore the “Vote on Campus” program and denounce this anti-democratic move by Elections Canada.