VICTORY for the “KEEP DEMOCRACY IN OUR SCHOOLS” Campaign
HARPER BLINKS IN ATTACK ON STUDENT VOTE
TIMMINS – Today, students and teachers and Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus won a major victory while the Conservative government’s full out onslaught against the democratic education work of Elections Canada has ended in an ignominious defeat.
Earlier today Democratic Reform Minister Pierre Polievre announced the government was backtracking on its highly controversial electoral reform that has been widely denounced as an “attack on democracy”. One of the more controversial parts of the bill was an attempt to make it illegal for Elections Canada to work with students and schools on raising awareness of the importance of voting.
Angus fought back against this attack on the Student Vote program with a grassroots campaign called “KEEP DEMOCRACY IN OUR SCHOOLS” campaign. Angus says the government backed down because citizens stood up to them.
“This was a government hell bent on undermining the integrity of Elections Canada. But it’s a good lesson to remember that bullies don’t get their way when there is determined opposition who still stand on matters of principle.”
Angus says that he was impressed by the many teachers, students and ordinary citizens who spoke out on the importance of the STUDENT VOTE and other education programs of Elections Canada. Over 2,300 people “liked” the campaign Facebook page set up by Angus’s office, and untold numbers of students from across Canada wrote letters to Poilievre demanding the change that he was forced to announce today.
“New Democrats showed Stephen Harper what real opposition to his agenda looks like. We were able to network with a wonderful array of grassroots citizens who, regardless of their political stripe, understood the importance of defending the integrity of our democratic system.”
