Thank you very much for hearing me. I'm not as fast a reader as some of the others, so I'm just going to highlight some of our points. I understand that you have the full presentation.
Council of Canadians with Disabilities, CCD, is a national cross-disability organization with nine provincial, one territorial, and seven national disability member groups. Through CCD, Canadians with disabilities have been speaking out and taking their rightful place in Canadian society by causing the removal of barriers to participation. Approximately 3.8 million, or 13.7% of Canadians—we'll talk about that—15 years of age and older report a disability.
Thank you for hearing from the CCD on the barriers regarding Bill C-23. We want to talk about four points that we feel are of great concern.
On the public education campaigns, unfortunately Bill C-23 ends the Chief Electoral Officer's power to implement information programs about the electoral process. Barriers, such as the lack of plain language information, Braille, large print, ALS-LSQ information for the hearing impaired and deaf, have prevented some persons with disabilities from being knowledgeable about the electoral process. Accessibility and inclusive public education campaigns enable people with disabilities to overcome information barriers and to promote participation. CCD recommends that the Chief Electoral Officer continue to have the authority to implement information programs.
The next is alternative voting process. The printed ballot is inaccessible to some voters. For example, voters with vision impairments cannot independently verify if a printed ballot is correctly marked. Adoption of electronic and telephone voting processes will overcome this barrier, hopefully, but will require testing. Bill C-23 proposes House and Senate approval of future tests of electronic processes. Currently, committee approval is sufficient. As additional approval requirements could hinder barrier removal, CCD recommends that only committee approval be required for the test of electronic voting systems.
Next is voter identification rules. We've heard quite a bit about that tonight. Bill C-23's proposal to eliminate vouching and prohibit the use of voter information cards, VIC, for verifying a voter's residence will disenfranchise voters who do not have full identification of their address. Persons with disabilities living in long-term care facilities and homeless people with disabilities will be among the disenfranchised because they experience barriers to obtaining necessary ID, not because it's not available, but they just can't get it. CCD recommends we retain the current safety net provided by the VIC and vouching.
On campaign contributions, more people with disabilities are seeking public office. People with disabilities experience a disproportionate level of poverty. CCD disagrees with the Bill C-23 exemptions that allow increased contribution from a candidate's personal funds because it will place less affluent Canadians at a disadvantage.
Finally, on enforcement, the Commissioner of Canada Elections should not work for the government of the day. To protect the fairness of the electoral process, CCD recommends that the Commissioner of Canada Elections report directly to Parliament.
Thank you for your time.