Would you trust anti-free-trade activist Maude Barlow and the state-controlled Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) with your children?
Barlow and CBC are two of the main resources behind last week's Student Vote, in which more than 3,000 schools from every province and territory in Canada participated in the Federal Student Vote Program.
although what Student Vote calls "parallel" student votes were gathered in schools during the week of January 16 2006, the program began two years ago in time for the 2004 federal election that saw the Liberal Party squeak back into power with a minority government.
according to Student Vote's homepage, "In less than two years, the program has reached over 700,000 students."
If your son or daughter came home from school last week to tell you that they voted on official Canada Election ballots, they're not kidding.
Ballots marked by students in Canadian classrooms were bona fide Elections Canada ballots.
Nor was the parallel vote contained to high school students.
Christian turner, a Grade 7 student at Prince andrew Elementary School, is depicted in the LaSalle Post holding the official Elections Canada ballot he cast in a mock election at his school.
Further proof of official Elections Canada ballots being used in Student Vote's "parallel" elections can be found in the text of the accompanying
story next to Christian's photograph: …"actual Elections Canada voting screens, ballot boxes and ballots were supplied by Student Vote, a program that aims to provide students with a sneak peak at voting during an official election period." (LaSalle Post, www.windsoressexnews.com, pg. 9, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006).
according to the LaSalle Post, "Student Vote will now tabulate the ballots and release them on their Website on Jan. 23."
But another reliable source tells canadafreepress.com that the schools–by special code--send marked student ballots to CBC.
"I am with Lois Brown's team in the riding of Newmarket-aurora," parent Janet Kramer wrote canadafreepress.com. "On Thursday, Jan. 12 Lois and I were at Cardinal Carter Catholic High School for an all candidates' debate in front of 600 students.
"While Lois and I were in the school office, with the history teacher who organized the event, a courier delivered a box about one foot long and 8 inches deep which the teacher informed us, contained the ballots for the school's vote.
"He also told us that they had an arrangement with the CBC. after the school vote, their count would be sent into the CBC website using a secret code and that the CBC would announce the results on election night along with all the other polls. He told us that because the school's vote in the last election was within a percentage point of the actual result in our riding, that there was considerable interest in seeing if the kids would get it right again."
at best our kids should not be used as laboratory white mice for CBC Election Night polls. at worst, our school children should not be pawns for assured Election Night victory for the lagging-in-campaign-poll Liberals.
"We invite you and your school to join us in this national parallel election," states Student Vote, "Together we can engage over half a million students and help build the next generation of active citizens!"
Included in the resource materials sent out to Canadian schools by Student Vote is Fair Vote Canada (FVC), whose National advisory Board includes socialists David Suzuki, Judy Rebick and Maude Barlow.
Chairperson of The Council of Canadians and director of the International Forum on Globalization, Barlow is an anti-free-trade activist supremo, who has been called "the Ralph Nader of Canada".
Barlow is also part of the newly-formed Think Twice Coalition which formed last week to warn Canadians about the dangers of a Conservative (election) victory.
Question: Can the CBC guarantee us that none of the ballots sent through "special code" by Canadian schools will make their way to Election Night ballot boxes?
Question: Is it legal for Elections Canada to allow the use of official ballots during "parallel" elections in Canadian schools?
Question: Why is CBC a point of destination for student marked official ballots and not the shredder?
Canadafreepress.com would like to thank the dozens of concerned parents, students, readers and bloggers, particularly lost budgie and small dead animals for bringing in the information used in this story in less than a 24 hour period after CFP issued a request for help.
We can all only hope that honesty and integrity will be part of the ballot counting on Election Night, and that Prime Minister Paul Martin did not know something we didn't when he said so clearly on Wednesday that victory was certain to be his on January 23.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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