Candidates explain why they are part of Longest Ballot protest in Poilievre's Carleton riding
They're not campaigning, nor are they certain where riding is, but Longest Ballot candidates say they are exercising rights
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Michael Bednarski is not sure he has ever been to Carleton nor does he have immediate plans to visit even though his name is on the ballot there.
“Other than passing through, maybe, I haven’t really visited. I may have been in a shopping mall or something like that when I have been in Ottawa, but not specifically.”
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The Toronto-based substitute teacher is one of 91 candidates on the ballot in Carleton in the federal election. He is part of the Longest Ballot protest that is targeting the Ottawa riding held by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre for more than two decades. Eighty five of the 91 people listed as candidates in the large riding that stretches from Arnprior to Cumberland are part of a protest that aims to make a point about electoral reform by flooding the ballot.
Because of the sheer size of the ballot — almost a metre long — and the volume of names, Elections Canada has said it may take extraordinary steps to ensure the vote count is not delayed too long in what will be one of the most closely watched ridings in the country on election night. That could include extra staff to count ballots, extra training sessions or beginning to count advance poll votes earlier on election day. Even so, Elections Canada says the results are likely to take longer than usual. Votes are counted by hand in federal elections.
Bednarski said he became involved after responding to a request from the organization that calls itself the Longest Ballot Committee. It posted on social media that it was looking for volunteers to run in designated ridings as part of an electoral reform protest. It is the third time Bednarski has taken part in a Longest Ballot protest. His name was also on long ballots in a riding in Toronto and one in Quebec during byelections last September. In the first one, he got 18 votes, in the second 11 votes.
He and others are really candidates in name only, with no intention of being elected or even campaigning. The point, he says, is to draw attention to the issue of electoral reform.
“I know a lot of people don’t like it. But if people don’t like it, it gets discussed,” he said in an interview in between classes at the school where he is working.
“I am hoping they understand why we are doing it. It may take a few minutes longer to fill out a ballot. But if they know who they are supporting, they will be able to find the name on the ballot — the names are in alphabetical order.”
Bednarski said he believes the current system — first past the post — needs to be reformed to elect governments that better reflect society and voters.
Bednarski said the protest is not specifically targeting Poilievre. He was told the organizers also planned a long ballot protest in Mark Carney’s riding of Nepean, which borders Carleton, but ran out of time collecting the necessary signatures because the Liberal leader didn’t announce where he was running until just before the election call at the end of March.
Getting his name on the ballot involved little effort on Bednarski’s part. Members of the Longest Ballot committee collected the necessary signatures (each candidate must submit signatures from at least 100 residents of the riding). “All I had to do was fill out the electronic forms on the Elections Canada site and prove I was the actual person and qualified to run.”
Richard Rowat, who lives in the Laurentians north of Montreal, is also running in Carleton. It is also his third time as part of the Longest Ballot initiative. The 72-year-old computer consultant spent a decade working for MSF and shares in the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the humanitarian organization in 1999.
He is also a founding member of the Canadian Party of Quebec, which advocates for the equality of English language in the province.
He said he has taken part in the the Longest Ballot initiative three times, in conjunction with the Rhino party. He got three votes in Toronto and one in Quebec in the byelections last year.
Rowat said he has been to Ottawa plenty of times, but not specifically to Carleton. He said he would consider going, but noted the intention of the protests is “not to be electioneering.”
“I am exercising my democratic rights by doing this. I am sorry if it is an inconvenience, but that is life.”
The protest has been criticized by residents and by academics as pointlessly disruptive. Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault has spoken publicly about concerns the protests are creating accessibility challenges for some voters.
Meanwhile, Sébastien CoRhino, who has led or been involved with the Rhinoceros Party of Canada since 2015, is not only on the ballot in Carleton but has also visited the riding. He shares an agent with every other candidate that is part of the Longest Ballot protest, but is running under the Rhinoceros party rather than as an independent, and appears to be running for a purpose outside of protesting the need for electoral reform.
In a video apparently filmed in Carleton, CoRhino (whose real name is Corriveau) encouraged residents to vote for him to defeat incumbent Poilievre.
“Carleton, it’s your chance to vote Rhinoceros. It been 21 years you have the same MP. But I understand you: there was no Rhino candidate! Now I’m here, let’s write history and send Poilievre to get a real job,” he wrote as part of an Instagram post that included a video of the candidate wearing an ear-flap hat with a rhinoceros pin on its front and describing the largely rural riding at the southern edge of Ottawa as beautiful.
CoRhino also encouraged residents to vote for the other 91 candidates, saying, “They are all good.” Whether he is part of the Longest Ballot protest or simply offering comic relief among the flood of candidates is unclear.
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