Leader of the Opposition, Hon. V. Arden McLean expressed his disappointment with Governments plans to hold the Cruise Berthing referendum on December 19^th, 2019. Speaking on behalf of the Official Opposition, Mr. Mclean pointed to the announced date as the worst possible time that the Government could have chosen to hold the referendum.

With many voters travelling for the holidays, and everyone caught up in Christmas activities, Mr. McLean feels that the Government is attempting to manipulate the vote in order to discourage people from fully participating in the process. Mr. McLean stated:

“I am utterly disappointed in the Premiers lack of respect for the people, his entire Government is complicit in this behavior, and it really puzzles me that supposedly sensible representatives who were elected to represent and advocate for their people can suddenly turn a blind eye to the abuse their Government is dishing out against their constituents.”

Mr. McLean also pointed to the extremely short time voters will have in order to apply for, and be allowed to vote by, postal ballots, he considers it very unfair for the Government to now mobilize civil servants who have worked extremely hard throughout the year and subject them to more time away from their families throughout the holiday season.

The Premiers attempt to suppress voters and manipulate the referendum results was not lost on the Leader of the Opposition however as he stated:

“This was no coincidence, neither was it a question of efficiency or practicality. The Government is deliberately attempting to pervert the referendum and manipulate the outcome. We are extremely concerned with what is clearly an attempt to deny the people a free, open and fair referendum. It is an indictment of how the Government views its constituents.”.