OTTAWA.- Today the Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC), joined the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) in sending a letter to Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer, Mr. Stéphane Perrault, asking him to consider changing the date of Election Day, to avoid conflict with religious holidays.
Read the full letter below;
November 1, 2019
Stéphane Perrault
Chief Electoral Officer of Canada
Elections Canada
30 Victoria Street,
Gatineau, Quebec, K1A 0M6
Dear Mr. Perrault,
On behalf the Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC), we would first
like to congratulate you on a successful election cycle and express our gratitude for
your excellent leadership in making this year’s federal election a success for all
Canadians.
During the election cycle, we were informed by our contacts at the Centre for
Israel and Jewish Affairs, that this year’s election date conflicted with the Jewish
holy day of Shmini Atzeret.
Given that many religiously observant Jews refrain from any form of work,
including writing and car travel on religious holy days, this conflict made access to
the democratic right of voting more complicated for observant Jews and to a
significant extent, diminished their opportunity to engage fully in the democratic
process.
We are writing to you today to kindly request that in your post election report, you
include a recommendation for the fixed election date to be pushed to the first
Monday of November, to proactively avoid such conflicts in the future.
It is our understanding that no other faith community will be affected by this
change, since, even if the election date were ever to fall on the holiday of another
faith, only the Jewish religion has restrictions that would prevent an individual
from being able to vote on a religious holy day.
Thank you very much for your consideration and please feel free to contact us at
any time, should you have any questions or concerns.
Respectfully yours,
Hrag Tarakdjian Shahen Mirakian
Co-President Co-President
