Edited sentence: Conservative Senator Linda Frum claimed Mayrand was in a conflict of interest by being allowed to run "Get out the Vote" initiatives in order to increase voter turnout and in having a vested interest in seeing voter turnout rise.Democracy Watch has been monitoring and advocating about Canada's elections laws for 20 years and it set out its key criticisms of the so-called "Fair Elections Act" in an op-ed published in the Globe and Mail on April 7, 2014 and also in a news release and submission to the House of Commons committee reviewing the bill on April 8, 2014.Elections Canada Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand has come out strongly against the proposed legislation.He has been criticized for a "campaign-style speech" he gave to Elections Canada staff in order to stir up dissent and opposition to the bill.Media commentators have questioned how Mayrand, a public servant whose job is to remain impartial and implement government policies, has been allowed to make such vitriolic public statements against a proposed government policy.Others have noted that never before has a public servant, whose job is to remain neutral and implement government directives, gone on the offensive in publicly attacking a proposed government policy.The Fair Elections Act would re-focus Elections Canada's mandate, which has been interpreted as meaning they can no longer run such Get out the Vote campaigns