Saturday, March 22, 2014

Election Bill Sends 'Very Poor Message' To Budding Democracies

So says Andrew Reynolds, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, one of 18 professors from around the world who earlier this week signed an open letter about their concerns regarding the 'Fair Elections Act. Their letter came the week after an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper by 159 Canadian political science and law professors.

In the following video, the professor articulates his and his fellow-academics' grave concerns over the anti-democratic aspects of the act.

6 comments:

  1. Lorne, I watched that interview on P & P. Actually 19 scholars around the world. This should send a massage to public and Opposition parties must speak up.

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    1. I really hope it has that effect, LD, I really do.

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  2. As a graduate of the professor's university, Lorne, I find it interesting that the criticism is coming from Chapel Hill.

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    1. Very interesting, Owen. Even the most complacent of Canadians should realize that something is gravely amiss when our government's legislative misdeeds are attracting an international audience.

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  3. I double checked on The Huff Post and it says 18 scholars. The lady who was hosting P&P yesterday said to the professor " ..there are 18 scholars and you're the 19th...". I had that misunderstanding. Nonetheless these are international scholars. Hopefully Harper and his Minister got the massage.

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    1. Thanks for the clarification, LD. As for Harper and Poilivre, I'm sure they got the message, but as per their usual modus operandi, I am certain they will tell us why the scholars are wrong, just as they have already said that Marc Mayrand doesn't know what he is talking about. You say 'black' and the cabal will invariably say 'white.'

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