You remember the song What a Difference a Day Makes? Yes, 24 short hours can make a big difference… In fact, maybe “every day is the same”, but not for Justin Trudeau. Let me explain.
The Election Act is not supposed to be a partisan nonsense.
The last time we saw a government try to rig the electoral rules was on the eve of Stephen Harper’s defeat.
The executioner of his dirty works was none other than Pierre Poilievre, who aimed in particular to make voting more difficult for people at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder.
Yes, the libertarian Poilievre then sought to take away from the most deprived of our society their most fundamental democratic freedom, that of voting.
The opposition parties, including the NDP (I was then its leader) and the Liberals (already under Trudeau) had denounced the maneuver of the Conservatives who had been forced to retreat.
Our main argument was simply: changes to the Election Act require consensus of the House. A government does not impose its will to support its own interests.
Even Harper understood this and he had to calm the ardor of the overly partisan Poilievre.
Bye, bye, Trudeau…
The Election Act is clear and has been in force for years.
There is a simple formula to determine in advance the dates of the next election.
Section 56.1 (2) of the Electoral Act provides that elections are held on the third Monday in October every four years. Under the Law and the rules known to everyone, the next election was to be held on October 20, 2025.
Except there is a “catch”. The 2019 election (which was called early) was held on October 21 that year.
This poses a small problem for MPs, because they acquire their pension for life, after six full years… However, the general election normally scheduled for October 20, 2025 would be held a day too early for those who have were elected in 2019.
By proposing to change the date of the next elections from October 20 to 27, 2025, Trudeau is guaranteeing a lifetime pension to all MPs elected in the 2019 elections. A pension to which they would not be entitled if he followed the rules.
On the sly, without warning, Trudeau seeks to stack the dice.
The Liberals are trying to pretend that this change of date is due to the religious festival of Diwali… It’s a funny argument, because they could just as easily have brought the elections forward, rather than postpone them. Moreover, during the last elections, they argued that citizens whose religious festival was held at the same time as the vote only had to take advantage of advance voting!
Admission of failure
This maneuver reveals everything about the state of mind of Trudeau and his gang. They fear the worst and, based on the polls at least, they are right.
There is nothing more important in politics than the confidence of the leader and Trudeau, let’s be clear, has never lacked confidence in himself.
This is the first time I’ve seen him prepare for a loss. This will quickly be decoded by his own troops, the very ones he is, on the contrary, trying to help by being considerate with regard to their pensions.
It’s a safe bet that the Conservatives will oppose this change, thereby demonstrating their own confidence: they don’t need one more day, four more years await them!