SARNIA, Ont. -- Kasra Nejatian, a right-wing Canadian activist going after American filmmaker Michael Moore for "sticking his face" in June's federal election, should be warned:
He'll have to get through Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley first.
Bradley, who was featured favourably in Moore's Oscar-winning film Bowling for Columbine, released a tongue-in-cheek rebuke yesterday to Nejatian's online effort to have Moore charged under the Elections Act for urging Canadians last month not to vote for the Conservatives. Such a statement is illegal for a non-Canadian to make during a campaign.
"I am willing to declare Michael Moore a citizen of Sarnia, Ontario, therefore making him a de facto Canadian," Bradley wrote to Jean-Pierre Kingsley, Canada's chief election officer.
"(This) will give him the right to whine, bitch, moan, complain about taxation . . . and vote for the government in power."
But Nejatian, whose petition is online at chargemoore.com, may have a point, Elections Canada confirmed.
Section 331 of 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 for a particular candidate."
About a week before the June 28 federal vote, Moore said Conservative Leader Stephen Harper "believes that Canada should be joining more with the United States instead of trying to be its own separate thing. And I think he has a big pair of scissors in his hands, desperate to cut away at the social safety net that (Canadians) have."
Moore is a Michigan native, making him a so-called foreign national.
To 21-year-old Nejatian, who ran unsuccessfully in 2000 for the Canadian Alliance in a Toronto-area riding, Moore went too far.
"I know Michael Moore likes to joke around about things, but this isn't a joking matter," he said. "The guy broke the law -- this goes to the heart of the democratic rights of Canadians.
"Can you imagine if George W. Bush came here and said 'Don't vote for (Liberal leader) Paul Martin'? It would be absolutely outrageous."
He said his website has received 10,000 hits and 1,300 people have signed his anti-Moore petition, which Nejatian plans to send to Raymond Landry, the commissioner of Canada Elections,who handles such complaints.
Fahrenheit 9/11, Moore's latest film, has become the highest-grossing documentary ever. In it, he attacks Bush, the U.S. president, for leading America into Iraq last year.
But Bradley, who Moore has called "the voice of reason," said the efforts of activists like Nejatian generally backfire.
"People on the (political) right in the U.S. and Canada have done more to promote Michael Moore than Michael Moore has."
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