Procedure and House Affairs committee  The answer is you do so at great risk to yourself, and there is a very good likelihood that you're not going to be successful, whether it's with your voter information card or whether it's with the library card that you happen to find in the lobby of your condo building as well. Impersonating someone else with their type two identity document is a serious offence in British Columbia, subject to a fine of $20,000 and two years in jail.

Business of Supply  I think that is why he has highlighted that it is so important that we look at the voter information cards, as the opposition is calling for them to be used as an acceptable form of identification, and we know that there are errors on one in six. The member has outlined an example in his case.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I should re-emphasize for the member that, when we talk about the voter information cards, there are errors on one in six of these cards. There is clearly something that needs to be addressed here. What he needs to also be clear on is that there are 39 forms of acceptable identification.

Business of Supply  Mayrand is absolutely correct.... And [with] the provision that no one is allowed to use the voter information card that is sent to every individual voter who's registered, I think it will disenfranchise more people in addition. We have the experts saying that all of the big problems the minister put forward and suggested were evidence of fraud or potential fraud were actually administrative issues.

Business of Supply  I want to turn to the second group of voters. When looking at the things he does not like about the bill, the voter information card and the vouching system, I cannot see how these things affect seniors voting in residences. In the last election, there was a case that went before the Supreme Court, Opitz v.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Voter information cards, VICs.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  But would anyone dispute that the people who live there, who had been visited by officials, who had been issued voter information cards.... Would anyone dispute that the nurse is a proper person to attest to who lives in the residence? Again, this is an irregularity, but there is no reason to believe that any of the votes were not cast by perfectly legitimate electors.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Briefly, the accuracy rate of the voter information card after revision stands at 93%, so there's still 7% that may have incorrect information on them. In the case of your particular situation, when you look at files, you will find that we sometimes use different names or different initials as we input information at different parts.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  In fact, with regard to the second example I gave, isn't it a problem when someone is actually told on their voter information card—and in all fairness, this was not you, but actually Elections Ontario; I want to be clear about that—to vote in a riding in which they aren't a resident? That's actually advice to do something that's unlawful, which someone might follow up on with good intentions, not realizing better.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  There is no evidence, again, that the driver's licence is more up to date than the voter information card. Again, if you look at the data that's available, you will see that during an election campaign, during the calendar period, you can expect to have 250,000 Canadians who are moving.

Democratic Reform  He makes a joke out of the whole process when he refuses to acknowledge what Elections Canada said, that there are errors with one in six cases of voter information cards that are sent out, which are allowing people to vote more than once or in ridings in which they do not live. There have been documented cases of violations in this regard. We are putting an end to it.

Democratic Reform  Speaking of cases of fraud, according to Elections Canada, which signed a compliance agreement, there were people who used the voter information card to vote more than once in highly publicized cases that happened in the leader of the NDP's own hometown.

The Budget  The Conservatives' scheme to overhaul Canada's Election Act reeks of a government that puts political interests ahead of the national interest. Bill C-23 aims to make it harder, not easier, to vote by scrapping voter information cards and eliminating the vouching system. It restricts Elections Canada from promoting the very act of voting, leaving that responsibility to political parties. At a time when voters feel alienated from the democratic process, the Conservatives are moving to disenfranchise even more people from their right to vote.

The Budget  During debate on Bill C-23 on February 6, I stated in the House that I had witnessed an event that had taken place with respect to voter information cards. After reviewing the transcript in the blues, I recognized that this was an error on my part. Today, as I did yesterday, I withdraw those comments from the debate portion of my opportunity to speak on Bill C-23 on February 6.

Business of Supply  Another example is a student who has a student card but does not have a driver's licence. That person will not be able to vote. I would also like to add that voter information cards will no longer be able to be used as proof of identity. This creates the same problem. The bill also increases the maximum threshold for individual donations from $1,200 to $1,500.