Elections Modernization Act  Despite the fearmongering from members opposite, the simple fact is that record numbers of Canadians voted in the last election, under the current system with voter information cards, not voter identification cards. Beyond the changes the bill would make to voter identification, it also targets campaign financing. Interesting timing on that one. The Liberals failed in their plan to change our electoral system to their preferred option without a referendum.

Elections Modernization Act  Why, after only an hour, are the Liberals giving notice of time allocation to try to shut down debate and not give us those opportunities? The member called the voter information card the best identification document. According to Elections Canada, there is an error rate on the National Register of Electors of about 16% at any given time. Almost one million of these cards were mailed out incorrectly in the last election.

Elections Modernization Act  Speaker, the member was there for a lot of the discussion we had at committee on the Chief Electoral Officer's report that led to the greatest portion of the bill. The voter information cards are the only piece of federally issued identification that has people's names and addresses on it, and it is free to everybody. People have to pay taxes to get it. There is no other federal piece of identification that does this.

Elections Modernization Act  I would be interested to ensure that young people who are not living at their parents' address have that flexibility. I think that is one example of how voter information cards or vouching can provide a necessary and important flexibility to ensure that they have the opportunity to vote.

Democratic Reform  It is hard to conceive of a scenario where a voter would have none of these but would have a correct voter information card. However, the Liberals want to have almost a million incorrect cards used as proof. Why are the Liberals making it possible for people to vote without the correct ID?

Democratic Reform  It turns out the Liberals actually want stricter ID rules for buying marijuana than they do to protect the integrity of our elections. Nearly one million erroneous voter information cards were mailed out during the 2015 election, but the Liberals want to use them as a proof of address. Why do the Liberals want people to show ID to buy marijuana but not in order to vote?

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives were warned by hundreds of experts that eliminating voter information cards and vouching would actually have a negative impact and reduce Canadians' participation in the election. In fact, after the election, Stats Canada made it very clear that about 170,000 Canadians did not get to vote because of those changes by the Conservatives.

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, last election, nearly one million incorrect voter information cards were mailed out. The Liberals now want those to be used as proof of address. Outside foreign influencers funnelled millions of dollars into Canada last election as an assault on our democracy.

Democratic Reform  Now he is trying to change the elections law to benefit the Liberal Party. He wants to use voter information cards as a proof of address when, in the last election, nearly one million erroneous cards were mailed out. Canadians have seen through his tricks before, and they will once again.

Elections Canada  Canadians are required to show ID to obtain a library card or to rent a car, but the Liberals do not seem to think that ID should be required to vote. The Liberals want to use voter information cards as a proof of address, when in the last election, nearly one million erroneous cards were mailed out. Why is the government going to require people to show photo ID to buy marijuana but not in order to vote?

Bill C-76 An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and other Acts and to make certain consequential amendments

Among other things that it does in this regard, the enactment (a) removes the assignment of specific responsibilities set out in the Act to specific election officers by creating a generic category of election officer to whom all those responsibilities may be assigned; (b) limits election periods to a maximum of 50 days; (c) removes administrative barriers in order to facilitate the hiring of election officers; (d) authorizes the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to provide the Chief Electoral Officer with information about permanent residents and foreign nationals for the purpose of updating the Register of Electors; (e) removes the prohibition on the Chief Electoral Officer authorizing the notice of confirmation of registration (commonly known as a “voter information card”) as identification; (f) replaces, in the context of voter identification, the option of attestation for residence with an option of vouching for identity and residence; (g) removes the requirement for electors’ signatures during advance polls, changes procedures for the closing of advance polls and allows for counting ballots from advance polls one hour before the regular polls close; (h) replaces the right or obligation to take an oath with a right or obligation to make a solemn declaration, and streamlines the various declarations that electors may have the right or obligation to make under specific circumstances; (i) relocates the Commissioner of Canada Elections to within the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, and provides that the Commissioner is to be appointed by the Chief Electoral Officer, after consultation with the Director of Public Prosecutions, for a non-renewable term of 10 years; (j) provides the Commissioner of Canada Elections with the authority to impose administrative monetary penalties for contraventions of provisions of Parts 16, 17 and 18 of the Act and certain other provisions of the Act; (k) provides the Commissioner of Canada Elections with the authority to lay charges; (l) provides the Commissioner of Canada Elections with the power to apply for a court order requiring testimony or a written return; (m) clarifies offences relating to (i) the publishing of false statements, (ii) participation by non-Canadians in elections, including inducing electors to vote or refrain from voting, and (iii) impersonation; and (n) implements a number of measures to harmonize and streamline political financing monitoring and reporting.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I've often described it as being a solution to a problem that never existed. One of those is the voter information card. I am a huge fan for several reasons. The median age in my riding is high. We have a lot of seniors. It's also a rural area, so a lot of people lack the identification required for addresses and so on and so forth.

Committees of the House  Although this is reflected in the measures in Bill C-33 I have already mentioned, the bill has several other key measures that underscore the efforts we would make to improve democratic participation in our country. First, it would allow the Chief Electoral Officer to authorize the use of voter information cards as identification. Elections Canada piloted the use of the VIC as ID in 2010, and in the 2011 general election, approximately 900,000 Canadians, at more than 5,600 polling stations, were eligible to use the card as ID.

Democratic Reform  This legislation reinstates vouching, because we want more Canadians to be engaged in voting in elections. We will remember the voter information cards. I sat on the committee where the Conservatives said that people could not use voter ID cards. That did not make sense, and Canadians knew that. We now have a minister responsible for democratic reform who is putting some teeth in the voting card.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Allowing young electors to pre-register with Elections Canada so that their registration activates on their 18th birthday would greatly improve the quality of the voter list for this demographic. Once they turn 18, these young electors would receive a voter information card during an election, telling when and where to vote and bringing them into the electoral process. I also recommend that the voter information card be accepted as proof of address at the poll, not as a stand-alone document, but together with another piece of identification.