Tim Hortons gift card brouhaha shows N.S. electoral officer needs fining power: watchdog
CTV
The director of a democracy watchdog says that if Nova Scotia's electoral officer had more power to levy fines, it would discourage situations such as campaign managers giving Tim Hortons gift cards to voters.
The director of a democracy watchdog says that if Nova Scotia's electoral officer had more power to levy fines, it would discourage situations such as campaign managers giving Tim Hortons gift cards to voters.
The Liberal party has complained to Elections Nova Scotia after a Progressive Conservative campaign manager in Lunenburg, N.S., handed out gift cards each good for a single cup of coffee at a drive-thru while candidate Susan Corkum-Greek greeted voters as they exited.
The campaign manager resigned earlier this week and issued a statement saying he'd handed out 25 of the $2.07 cards.
Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch, says Nova Scotia needs law reform to permit its chief electoral officer to directly order a fine in such cases, rather than lengthy, costly and often ineffective court cases.
"We need to discourage violations of election laws, even small ones, as much as we discourage illegal parking," he said.
He said there may be significant violations of the Elections Act where the public prosecution service should be called in, but often minor cases in provincial jurisdictions can drift on for months and end up being abandoned.
The Liberals have argued providing the gift cards violated Section 327 of the provincial Elections Act, which prohibits offering "a bribe" to influence a person's vote.
Anyone planning to travel today is being urged to be prepared as 5 to 15 cm of snow could hit a large portion of southern Ontario.
Environment Canada has issued a winter weather travel advisory that will be in effect until Monday night.
Social workers on the front lines of homelessness in Montreal say they feel increasingly powerless as more people find themselves forced to live in tents during the winter.
Statistics Canada says the economy grew 0.3 per cent in October, helped by strength in the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction sector, following a 0.2 per cent increase in September.
Regina's recently elected Mayor Chad Bachynski has been embracing the learning curve that comes with the role and is looking ahead to the new year, which will include finalizing the city's budget.
Elizabeth May says in all her years on Parliament Hill she has never seen anything like the last week in Canadian politics.
Manitobans can expect to see a permanent change at the gas pump as early as next week
As Canadians take time off to celebrate the holidays, many federal offices, stores and businesses will be closed across the country on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
Nearly two years after a devastating fire on Boxing Day in 2022, The Papery has reopened at its original location in the heart of the Glebe.
Monday’s commute to and from work could be a snowy one for people throughout the GTA.
Montreal police (SPVM) are investigating a robbery that occurred at a Jewellery store robbery in Parc-Extension under investigation store in the Parc-Extension neighborhood on Saturday evening.