Canadians have not forgotten that Justin Trudeau broke his promise to make the 2015 election the last first-past-the-post (FPTP) election. Canadians remain unsatisfied with the archaic and out-of-touch political system which Justin Trudeau and Erin O’Toole call a democracy. An opportunity every few years to vote for the lesser evil is a far cry from what Canadians deserve. Our democracy is one that is designed to keep the voices of ordinary people out and concentrate power in the hands of a few. People feel disillusioned with voting for those that don’t represent them. Instead of accepting apathy and alienation, we decided to do the opposite; and engaged directly with our democracy to make ourselves heard. We now are happy to celebrate our success in creating the longest federal ballot seen in this country’s 150 year history.

We mobilized ordinary Canadians from all walks of life and from a diverse range of political opinions to stand in a single riding at the heart of the country, St. Boniface-St. Vital Winnipeg. We collected nearly 1600 individual nomination signatures from local residents who were excited to see regular people stand up for a better democracy.

Section 3 of the Charter explicitly grants every Canadian the right to stand for election; there is no reason why we should accept our lot just as voters. We can do more. We believe a democracy in which everyday Canadians have a bigger voice will forever remain a distant dream until we start to exercise our democratic rights to their fullest extent and stand up with our own voices against the politicians who seek to speak on our behalf.

Some will call the longest ballot frivolous, inappropriate, or just ballot clutter. We must disagree. There is nothing inappropriate about having regular Canadians exercising their charter rights and engaging directly in politics. The rules and model of our democracy is determined by the winners of the last election; this is neither fair nor democratic. We have shown what a few people can accomplish, and we will continue to work hard to bear pressure on the administrative and conceptual limits of our electoral system until the widespread calls for democratic reform are answered.

Towards a better democracy,

Organizers of the Longest Ballot
Tomas & Kieran Szuchewycz