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 of 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 Co-President Co-President |
Shahen Mirakian Co-President Co-President |