91-year-old veteran says he was denied right to vote in Ontario's election, despite having proper ID

Naama Weingarten · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 08, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

At 91-years-old, seasoned Charles Parent says he's voted successful each azygous Ontario election, adjacent casting a ballot from overseas portion serving successful Europe. 

But this wintertime drawback predetermination marked a archetypal for him. 

Parent says helium was denied his close to ballot contempt bringing due ID to his polling presumption successful the riding of Bay of Quinte— and his household fears galore others were turned distant for the aforesaid reason. 

"I've ne'er missed a vote. This is the archetypal 1 I missed and I was upset," Parent told CBC Toronto. 

According to Elections Ontario, radical tin ballot arsenic agelong arsenic they person a elector accusation paper and a 1 portion of ID showing their name, which Parent did.

But Parent's daughter, Susan Hyndman, told CBC Toronto a polling idiosyncratic said his elector accusation and wellness cards weren't enough, suggesting helium spell location and get different signifier of ID with his code connected it.

"He besides said that we weren't the first. He said, 'We turned galore distant for this peculiar reason,'" Hyndman said. 

Election Ontario's website says Parent would person needed an ID with an code lone if helium didn't person his elector accusation card, which wasn't the case.  

Assuming the polling idiosyncratic indispensable person been correct, the remainder of his household voted portion Parent waited and yet left. 

If it had been a lukewarm summertime time they would person apt returned, Hyndman said, but atrocious upwind already made it a challenge for them to permission the location with Parent, who uses a walker. 

"By the clip we got home, we weren't going backmost retired again," she said. 

But for Parent, determination was besides a furniture of frustration. 

"I didn't consciousness similar coming back, enactment it that way," helium said. "People…should beryllium trained properly" 

Nikole Hyndman, Parent's granddaughter, instantly tried to hole the concern erstwhile she heard astir what had happened, but to nary avail.

She said 2 Elections Ontario hotlines seemed to beryllium inactive, portion a 3rd sent her to voicemail.

She has since filed a ceremonial ailment with Elections Ontario. 

In an email sent to Nikole seen by CBC Toronto, Elections Ontario said their "feedback volition beryllium reviewed" and they "understand that participating successful the electoral process should beryllium straightforward, accessible, and affirmative for each voters." 

When CBC Toronto asked Elections Ontario astir Parent's acquisition astatine the polls and however galore akin complaints their bureau received, they said they were incapable to remark connected idiosyncratic cases oregon disclose accusation related to circumstantial voters.

Voter turnout conscionable 1.4% distant from all-time low

The PCs won Parent's Bay of Quinte riding with Tyler Allsopp capturing 20,999 votes (44.4 per cent of the vote) to decision Liberal David O'Neil, who was 2nd with 14,883 votes. The NDP's Amanda Robertson finished third, with 8,745 votes.

You tin find each of the predetermination results on our interactive leafage here.

Nikole said it's upsetting that specified a susceptible subordinate of the colonisation was turned distant from the polls.

That's particularly the case, she says, "considering the problems we've had successful this state and successful this state with elector turnout, to past spot somebody…making the effort to spell to the polls and to beryllium turned distant owed to a deficiency of clear, accessible information."

Last month's provincial predetermination had a elector turnout of 45.4 per cent, a flimsy emergence from 2022's 44 per cent — the lowest elector turnout successful Ontario's history.

Parent managed to ballot successful past elections adjacent portion serving successful England and Spain during his 3 decades successful the Canadian Armed Forces. While successful the aerial force, helium says he got to alert large figures including Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, arsenic good arsenic Pierre Elliot Trudeau. 

"Papa taught america that ideology is important," Nikole said. "I consciousness similar that's a portion of the worth strategy that I was raised on." 

More than a week aft the election, Parent and his household inactive stay puzzled astir wherefore helium was turned distant from voting successful his ain location riding. 

"I voted each over, each implicit the satellite [in] antithetic elections," Parent said. "I ever managed to ballot due to the fact that the strategy was good organized."