Canadian legislator apologizes for offering shout-outs to small donors on the floor of Parliament
One of the youngest members of Canada's Parliament has now had to back away from a unique online fundraising campaign. The problem: It technically involved offering to make statements on the floor of Parliament in exchange for political donations.
Charmaine Borg, a member of the left-wing New Democratic Party, promised that in exchange for donations of $50 (that is, Canadian dollars), she would name each individual donor on the floor of the House of Commons. And in exchange for $1,000, CBC News reports, Borg would have said on the floor of the House, "Resistance is futile" — a reference to the Borg villains from Star Trek: The Next Generation, and to her own last name.
Borg was elected to Parliament in 2011 at only 20 years old — one of the many surprise wins in the NDP's huge breakthrough that year throughout the province of Québec, which propelled the party into second place nationally for the first time ever. Now age 23, she currently serves as the NDP's official spokesperson on digital issues. And now in her latest digital communication, she has apologized for this fundraising experiment. --Eric Kleefeld
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'Make legal immigration a more plausible option'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
LA-to-Las Vegas high-speed rail line breaks ground
Speed Read The railway will be ready as soon as 2028
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Israel's military intelligence chief resigns
Speed Read Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva is the first leader to quit for failing to prevent the Hamas attack in October
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published