Please help support the call to stop snap elections across Canada!

Snap elections are unfair to voters, usually lead to lower voter turnout, and give an unfair advantage to the ruling party candidates because they know the election call is coming before the candidates of other parties.

Snap elections are illegal everywhere in Canada because election laws were changed with the agreement of all politicians in all parties to fix election dates for 4 years after the last election, unless the government loses an important vote in the legislature (like a vote on its budget or other major issue).

As well, snap elections violate the constitutional rule that has been created at the federal level, and in many provinces, by all the parties in the legislature following their fixed election date law for more than one election in a row.

The British Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that it was illegal for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to shut down Parliament for no justifiable reason.

However, courts in Canada have been ignoring the fixed election date laws across Canada and letting the Prime Minister and provincial premiers get away with calling snap elections.

A poll released in July 2021 showed only one quarter of Canadians wanted a snap federal election but Prime Minister Trudeau called it anyway. A poll released in early September 2021 showed that 75% of Canadians didn’t think the election was necessary. Voter turnout dropped 5 percent in the federal election, and thousands of voters were prevented from voting because of problems with fewer polling stations and mail-in ballot problems.

Newfoundland and Labrador’s government called a snap election in January 2020 – then a COVID outbreak happened, the election date was postponed twice, and voter turnout plunged to a record low as many voters were prevented from voting by the sudden new requirement imposed on them to register for, receive, fill in and mail back their ballot on short deadlines.

Whenever a snap election is called, it is unfair because voters have no time to plan and arrange their lives so they can run as a candidate, volunteer or participate in the election in other ways. That’s why all politicians across Canada have decided to fix their election date in their election law. It makes the election more fair for everyone!

Because they are illegal, dishonest and unfair, Democracy Watch has filed court cases challenging the snap election calls by Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, by the B.C. NDP Premier John Horgan and the New Brunswick Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs, which all violated fixed election date laws.

Please donate on this page to support the court cases trying to stop snap elections, and please click here to send your letter to your federal and provincial politicians calling for even stronger measures to be passed to fix election dates across Canada!

And please Share this page with everyone you know.

Thank you very much for your support!