Chief electoral officer strikes back at gov’t’s claim he wears team jersey

OTTAWA – Canada’s chief electoral officer says the only team sweater he wears is the striped “white and black” and that a Conservative overhaul of the Elections Act will take the referee off the ice.

In his first comments on sweeping new elections legislation by the Harper government, Marc Mayrand says he hopes there is extensive public consultation and debate over the proposed changes.

Mayrand was responding to comments by Conservative minister Pierre Poilievre, who introduced the bill Tuesday by saying Canada’s elections “referee should not be wearing a team jersey.”

Mayrand’s reaction comes as the government moves to shut down debate in the House of Commons and rush the legislation to committee.

Mayrand says he hopes he’ll have week to analyze the 242-page bill, given that the government took years to write it.

But he says his first reaction is concern that the legislation appears to limit the voting access of certain groups of citizens, including aboriginals, the poor and the elderly.