A pro-life group is being investigated by Elections Canada for connecting pro-life volunteers and candidates during the 2019 federal election.
According to the National Post, RightNow received a letter ordering the group to hand over documentation and agree to interviews over allegations that their strategy violated the Canada Elections Act.
RightNow co-founder Scott Hayward says that the organization does not interfere with or work for campaigns.
“We didn’t tell the campaigns what to do. The campaigns didn’t direct us to find volunteers,” Hayward said.
“Our goal was to help pro-life candidates get elected. All we did was provide volunteers to advance a non-partisan agenda for pro-life issues.”
RightNow is a non-partisan organization created to connect pro-life volunteers with pro-life political candidates. The organization has two employees.
RightNow’s lawyer says the group will not hand over the documentation demanded until Elections Canada clarifies what exact allegations are being investigated.
The letter from Elections Canada Commissioner Mylène Gigou cites a subsection of the Canada Elections Act which says third party groups cannot provide help to campaigns “other than volunteer labour.”
RightNow claims it has only ever provided volunteers.
In response to their investigation, RightNow’s lawyer has filed complaints with Elections Canada against six labour unions. RightNow claims these unions helped Liberal and NDP candidates during the 2019 federal election.
A similar situation occurred in January when Rebel News Editor Ezra Levant found out he was under investigation for potentially breaking the law by publishing a book criticizing Justin Trudeau during the 2019 federal election campaign.
Elections Canada at the time said that Levant’s promotion material for the book may have broken the law. Levant believes that the investigation may be politically motivated.
