Sarah Silverman endorses Tom Mulcair and NDP candidate in Vancouver
NDP's Mira Oreck 'thrilled' by surprise tweet from American comedian
Pamela Anderson, Wayne Gretzky, Donald Sutherland and now another major celebrity has waded into the Canadian election campaign by endorsing both a party and a candidate.
The difference this time, though, is that the endorsement comes from an American.
Comedian Sarah Silverman tweeted her support for the NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and Mira Oreck, a candidate in the B.C. riding of Vancouver-Granville, on Sunday. Oreck said she was "thrilled" by the endorsement.
Kudos to <a href="https://twitter.com/ThomasMulcair">@ThomasMulcair</a> 4 supporting a woman's right to wear what she wants w/out discrimination <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NDP?src=hash">#NDP</a> And VOTE 4 MIRA ORECK! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VanGran?src=hash">#VanGran</a>
—@SarahKSilvermanThe celebrity made reference to the NDP's stance on religious freedom amid the niqab debate in her tweet.
Mulcair thanked her for the endorsement in his own tweet.
Thank you for your support, <a href="https://twitter.com/SarahKSilverman">@SarahKSilverman</a>. And we agree, <a href="https://twitter.com/miraoreck">@miraoreck</a> will make a great MP. —TM <a href="https://t.co/Q2hucnmuWQ">https://t.co/Q2hucnmuWQ</a>
—@ThomasMulcairOreck says she met Silverman in 2012, when she was in New York producing a video against voter identity laws in the lead-up to the U.S. presidential election, that starred Silverman. The two have kept in touch since then.
The endorsement on Twitter, though, was somewhat unexpected.
"Occasionally, I send her things on the election — sent her something last night and off she went. I woke this morning to a tweet from her," said Oreck, who emailed Silverman concerns she had received from voters regarding their religious freedom.
She hopes the celebrity's prominence will catch the attention of voters. The tweet was sent out at 6:20 a.m. PT, and by the afternoon, it had been retweeted more than 800 times.
Oreck is in a race against two other first-time candidates in the new riding of Vancouver-Granville: Liberal Jody Wilson-Raybould and Conservative Erinn Broshko.
While Wilson-Raybould hasn't been backed by any American celebrities, she is endorsed by former prime minister Paul Martin and famed environmentalist David Suzuki.
Conservative candidate Broshko does not list endorsements on his website.
Illegal endorsement?
Silverman's tweet seems innocent enough, but it could possibly be illegal.
Foreigners are not allowed to encourage electors to vote for a particular candidate during an election period.
Section 331 of the the Canada Elections Act states:
"No person who does not reside in Canada shall, during an election period, in any way induce electors to vote or refrain from voting or vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate."
The only exemptions are Canadian citizens and permanent residents.
The rule is not usually enforced, and Oreck said Silverman chose to send the tweet herself.
"I'm not a lawyer, but I don't think this is illegal. She's entitled to her view, entitled to tweet what she wants," Oreck said.
In 2008, the Conservatives complained when Michael Moore was seen to be endorsing an NDP candidate during an election campaign. The NDP responded by saying Moore was only there to capture video for a documentary.