Jews Sue To Stop Canada’s Election From Falling On A Holiday
Image by Wikimedia
(JTA) — A Jewish candidate in Canada’s federal election and a Jewish voter have filed a lawsuit asking to change the voting day because it falls on a Jewish holiday.
Shemini Atzeret comes out this year on Election Day, Oct. 21, which would prevent observant Jews from casting their ballots. Of the four advance polling days, three are on other Jewish holidays or Shabbat.
The lawsuit, called an application, was filed last week in federal court and asks that the election date be changed to Oct. 28.
Chani Aryeh-Bain, the Conservative Party candidate for the Toronto-area district of Eglington-Lawrence, and voter Ira Walfish of York Centre, also a Toronto-area district, filed the suit claiming that the election date discriminates against observant Canadian Jews.
Aryeh-Bain is an observant Jew and therefore would not be able to campaign on Election Day, the lawsuit says.
Both York Centre and Eglinton-Lawrence are represented by Liberal Party members who defeated Jewish Conservative incumbents in the last election, according to the Canadian Jewish News.
Canada’s 2008 federal election fell on the first day of Sukkot.
“There should have been no need for this litigation,” said Michael Mostyn, chief executive officer of B’nai Brith Canada. “The Chief Electoral Officer has the discretion to shift election day to avoid ‘a day of cultural or religious significance’ under Section 56.2(1) of the Elections Act, but he has inexplicably failed to take that entirely logical step.”
Shemini Atzeret falls at the end of the week of Sukkot.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
