Editor:
I read with interest the response from John Weston (Coast Reporter, May 2) to your editorial (April 25) on the unfair elections act.
This bill is the most important one they have proposed because it deals with our most important right, the right to vote. It’s about time we heard something from our MP about this.
There are a lot of fundamental changes in this bill, and even with the amendments they have proposed, it is still very confusing. Mr. Weston doesn’t even appear to understand them all. He states that a voter with no ID can be covered by an oath produced by someone with ID — that is not true. Everyone is required to have some form of ID, but if it doesn’t have your address on it, you can have someone vouch for you.
I am concerned that he says he has been carefully monitoring the constituents’ concerns through email and letters to the editor.
Reading emails and editorials is fine, but if that is the only way Mr. Weston decides policy, then I have to question his leadership to his constituents. Where were the communications from him outlining the new election reforms and asking for feedback? Where were the public meetings and consultation about this very important issue?
Mr. Weston needs to come and speak to us to clarify what the changes will mean so people can be prepared for when the next election comes. So far, the only things we are getting from him are talking points from the Prime Ministers’ Office, and no real communication or consultation.
Paul Keyes, Hopkins Landing
