General elections in Canada are set to hold on the third Monday of October (October 21, 2019) but this may change. Chani Aryeh-Bain, a candidate from the Toronto Conservative Party has challenged the date in court due to its clashing with a Jewish holiday. The holiday, Shemini Atzeret, is to hold between the 20th – 22nd of October this year.
Can Election Dates Be Changed This Way?
Yes. According to the Canada Electoral Act (amended in 2007), “If the Chief Electoral Officer is of the opinion that a Monday that would otherwise be polling day under subsection 56.1(2) is not suitable for that purpose, including by reason of its being in conflict with a day of cultural or religious significance or a provincial or municipal election, the Chief Electoral Officer may choose another day in accordance with subsection (4) and shall recommend to the Governor in Council that polling day be that other day.”
Chani Aryeh-Bain et al. vs the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada
Aryeh-Bain is an Orthodox Jew. Speaking to Global News, she said: “Shemini Atzeret restricts me from doing a lot of things. We can’t drive, we can’t work, we can’t vote, we can’t use the phone, the computers, so a lot of things that need to be done on an election day I can’t do.” The holiday also impacts the 75,000 population of Orthodox Jews residing in Canada.
According to a report by CBC, Canada’s CEO, Stéphane Perrault “wrote to Aryeh-Bain in May saying that he was made aware of the issue through the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs as early as August 2018 and assured it that steps were being taken to ensure voter accessibility.”
On July 23, the Federal Court of Canada ruled that the CEO reconsider his decision not to recommend moving the election date. Part of the ruling reads, “…This judicial review is granted as the overall decision of the CEO does not demonstrate the hallmarks of transparency, intelligibility and justification, as it is not possible to determine if he undertook the necessary proportionate balancing between the applicant’s charter rights and the exercise of his statutory duty.”
In a statement after the ruling, Perrault says he will act in accordance with the ruling and make his decision public as soon as possible. Per the Electoral Act, he has until August 1 to make the recommendation.
