Hydro crews not allowed to vote away from home Monday: Elections Canada
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$19 $0 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*No charge for 4 weeks then billed as $19 every four weeks (new subscribers and qualified returning subscribers only). Cancel anytime.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/10/2019 (1625 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
MANITOBA Hydro employees away from home in the trenches of the post-storm cleanup Monday will not be able to exercise their right to vote in the federal election if they have not already made arrangements, according to Elections Canada.
“There is no alternative option right now,” Elections Canada spokeswoman Marie-France Kenny told the Free Press during a phone interview Thursday.
“We know there’s hundreds of workers and we’re really sorry, but we know that at least we got 60 of them to vote if they chose to.”
Over the weekend, about 60 Hydro employees posted in the Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman riding had the opportunity to cast a ballot at a community hall polling station. Kenny said a returning officer organized special ballots for out-of-town electors.
Days before Oct. 21, those working elsewhere and who did not cast an advanced ballot or apply for a special ballot (the deadline was Oct. 15 at 6 p.m.) to mail in their vote appear to be out of luck.
“We’re prepared for disasters and this is not the first one during an election, but there’s a limited amount of options that the law allows us to do,” Kenny said. “You can’t just go vote at any poll.”
Manitoba Hydro spokesman Bruce Owen said Thursday the utility was working with Elections Canada to see what could be done. Contacted again after Elections Canada’s response, Owen said: “It’s something we’re still looking at.”
The utility’s crews have been working around the clock to restore power to the 266,234 sites across the province hit by the recent premature winter storm.
More than 1,000 employees are still in the field tackling more than 6,000 outages in the Interlake, Dauphin and Portage la Prairie regions. Hydro estimated crews will be able to return home in a week.
The utility has said its crews are being challenged by wet conditions, although it is making progress thanks to assistance from SaskPower, Hydro One (Ontario) and Minnesota Power.
Meanwhile, Elections Canada said evacuees from 13 affected First Nations remaining in Winnipeg on election day will be able to vote at the University of Winnipeg’s Wesley Hall.
For First Nations voters who remained in their homes affected by power outages, Elections Canada said it is working to safely offer services Monday but with reduced hours of operation where there is still no electricity.
Kenny said outreach staff will help identify where people have been displaced and communicate with affected communities about available options.
In Winnipeg Centre, where 750 voter information cards were returned “undelivered” by Canada Post, Elections Canada said Thursday new cards were not sent to those electors.
It invited them or any Manitobans with questions about where and how to vote to call 1-800-463-6868 or go to elections.ca.
maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter
After 20 years of reporting on the growing diversity of people calling Manitoba home, Carol moved to the legislature bureau in early 2020.
Maggie Macintosh
Reporter
Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Winnipeg Free Press. Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.
History
Updated on Thursday, October 17, 2019 9:59 PM CDT: Fixes typo in photo caption.
Updated on Thursday, October 17, 2019 10:18 PM CDT: Updates headline