Two Guelph students kept out of Conservative rally
Posted Apr 7, 2011 03:26:13 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper has apologized for people getting turfed from campaign events on suspicion they support rival parties or groups. The controversy is being stoked by the Mounties admitting some officers helped the Tories eject people.
Two students from the University of Guelph say they were not allowed into a Harper campaign rally because they were flagged by the RCMP screening process.
21-year-old Joanna Macdonald tells 570’s Jeff Allan show, once officials told her she was flagged they said she was not allowed into the rally. She proceeded to ask why and organizers simply told her her name was deemed “unfit” to attend the rally.
According to Macdonald, one of the members of the Conservative Party said the reason may be because she was a member of the environmental club at school.
Izzy Hirji says he was also not allowed to attend the rally. However, he doesn’t believe he was flagged by the RCMP. He tells 570’s Jeff Allan, he and his friend went in, registered and were handed stickers to go into the rally. It was only at that point, one of the organizers rushed them back to the entrance and told them they weren’t welcome. Hirji was told the reason behind getting kicked out, was that it was private event and that an RCMP officer had identified them as part of a “protest”.
Hirji says the protest in question was actually just a “movement” to get students excited to vote. He says they were then flanked by RCMP, and decided to leave in order to avoid making a scene.
Meantime, Macdonald feels that this is just one of the many reasons why the youth vote is so low. She says that young people are being alienated from the electoral process.
Hirji agrees. He says it’s very important for youth to get out and vote, it could mean a change the political environment in Canada.
