Foreign Affairs  Speaker, let me remind this place and the Conservatives that it was actually our government that closed financing loopholes that their unfair elections act actually left wide open for foreign interference. In addition to that, let us remind Canadians what CSIS and our national security community have said. They have said that there was no activity that compromised the integrity of our elections.

Democratic Institutions  Let us review some of the facts about what our government has actually done. One of the first things we did was repeal Stephen Harper's unfair elections act. What did that do? It actually closed foreign funding loopholes that the Conservatives and that member seemed to have had no problem with in past elections. In addition, let us also talk about the fact that the 2019 NSICOP annual report that was tabled in this very House talked about the foreign interference attacks, and that member knows members could access—

Bank of Canada Accountability Act  We have seen what happens when Conservatives try to get their hands on independent public institutions like Elections Canada. There are a few of us here in the House who still remember the “unfair elections act” that the member for Carleton stickhandled on behalf of Stephen Harper at the time. Back then, the Conservatives invented a different bogeyman, one called “election fraud”, to justify voter suppression.

News Media Industry  Speaker, we will take no lessons from a party that made it harder for Canadians to vote with its unfair elections act. Indeed, as we all know, it was found guilty of breaking election laws in multiple elections. The Conservatives even made it illegal for Elections Canada to encourage voting. We reversed that ban.

News Media Industry  It is absolutely laughable that the Conservatives, who were found guilty of election fraud in multiple past elections, give any lessons on independence. What they tried to do with their unfair elections act was muzzle Elections Canada, preventing it from talking to young people, removing the right to vote from thousands of aboriginal people, thousands of young people, people right—

Democratic Reform  Madam Speaker, in all fairness, we will take no lessons from the other side about making changes to the electoral system. The legacy of the unfair elections act has been long, and we heard about it extensively in 2015. We acted promptly to deal with it. With respect to the social media platforms and the position they are taking today, we find that disappointing.

Democratic Reform  First, Bill C-76 was fundamental to ensuring the stability of the democracy in this country in response to the unfair elections act. Second, when we are talking about elections and electoral fairness, we need to talk about online platforms, including social media companies. Third, regarding notice to those companies, they have had adequate and ample notice.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  As much as the government gets credit for Bill C-76 and unravelling some of the ugliness that was in the “unfair elections act” that the previous government enacted, the way they did it was ham-fisted and borderline incompetent. However, am I correct in stating that the government, like the previous party in power, did not change the law regarding parties submitting receipts?

Elections Modernization Act  Speaker, I am honoured to stand in this place and speak to the Liberals' attempt to fix the Harper Conservatives' unfair elections act. The bill we are debating today is Bill C-76. How did we get here? The 2015 election campaign and the lead-up to it were certainly full of people's very legitimate and impassioned opposition and protests against the ransacking of the Elections Act.

Elections Modernization Act  Mr. Speaker, the minister is right to point out that Bill C-23, the unfair elections act, is much undone by this bill. We are actually moving amendments to allow for vouching to make more sense, not people just within a polling station but more broadly. I have a question on process, because process matters, of course.

Elections Modernization Act  We have been waiting a long time for this bill from the government. It actually introduced one almost two years ago that would have undone the unfair elections act. Then it did nothing with it for 18 months. It did not move it, debate it, or talk about it. It waited until we had this bill, Bill C-76, which is much larger and takes on more issues.

Elections Modernization Act  A few years back, when I was sitting in opposition, we had Stephen Harper's Fair Elections Act, as the Conservatives called it. In opposition, we called it the “unfair elections act”. I remember that individuals, stakeholders and Canadians from coast to coast to coast recognized the many flaws in Stephen Harper's attempt to reform our elections. People were greatly discouraged.

Elections Modernization Act  One would think, after the Liberals betrayed their promise on electoral reform, the very next thing they would do to undo the unfair elections act by the Harper government would have been to get on with it, the urgency of now, but they did not. Now we have the Senate fixing a democratic bill for the House that was passed.

Bill C-76—Time Allocation Motion  The Chief Electoral Officer was very clear with the Liberal government that to put in place changes to the Conservatives' unfair elections act in time for them to be fully implemented for the 2019 election, one year from now, it had to have legislation adopted this past April. It was the day after the deadline set by the Chief Electoral Officer that the Liberal government introduced its bill in the House, completely missing the deadline.

Elections Modernization Act  This was the whole inspiration of their election act, which some called the Fair Elections Act, and those who did not like it, such as myself and my party, called the unfair election act, We asked the Chief Electoral Officer for proof of that. He came back to us and said that in the last election, or in the election before, there was no evidence of significant voter fraud under any condition, certainly not by using the voter ID card, which every Canadian is sent.