Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, based on the list used to generate voter information cards, the information for one out of six people is incorrect. One-sixth of the voter cards contain errors and that results in electoral fraud, as we have already seen. There was even a Quebec television program that reported that two people voted twice because they each received two voter cards.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you very much. On your point, Mr. Reid, related to voter information cards, I think that one measure in the fair elections act that will help deal with election day confusion and which was identified by Mr. Neufeld was increasing the number of people who have pre-registered by having their names added to the list.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  First off, as she mentioned, young people and students were able to vote for years without having to use voter information cards, and they never had a problem. Second, they have 39 other ways to identify themselves at the polls, including their student cards. There is a long list of options, which I can share with you.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The members of that association were owners and operators of multi-family apartment buildings throughout the greater Toronto area. I certainly heard anecdotally from members about voter information cards that are mailed into apartment buildings. Residents will go to the mailroom, open their mailbox, and pull out whatever is there. Often a lot of it is flyers, but there's also the voter ID card, or the voter notification card, as I prefer to call it.

Democratic Reform  Speaker, a student card is an acceptable form of identification according to Elections Canada. However, one out of six voter information cards contains mistakes. That is too many. An episode of the television program Infoman showed two people voting twice with these cards. The episode was called “Elections Canada's two for one”.

Democratic Reform  Is the minister really suggesting that the very people who fought for our right to vote are now defrauding the system? In the same report, the Chief Electoral Officer said 62% of students use their voter information cards to cast their ballots. When young people vote, they form habits that make them lifelong voters, but for students at school, proving their residency can often be a challenge.

Fair Elections Act  The bill would give more independence to the Commissioner of Canada Elections, allowing him or her control over staff and investigations, empowering him or her to seek tougher penalties for existing electoral offences, and providing more than a dozen new offences to combat big money, rogue calls, and fraudulent voting. This legislation would crack down on voter fraud by prohibiting vouching or voter information cards as acceptable forms of ID; make the rules for elections clearer, predictable and easier to follow; ban the use of loans used to evade donation rules; repeal the ban on premature transmission of election results; and uphold free speech.

Democratic Reform  Two out of three young people—65%—between the ages of 18 and 25 did not bother to vote last time around. Most of those who did vote used their voter information card. That will be illegal next time. How can criminalizing a practice that helps people vote be good for democracy?

Fair Elections Act  Second, it would give more independence to the Commissioner of Elections Canada, allowing him or her control over staff and investigations, empowering him or her to seek tougher penalties for existing electoral offences, and providing more than a dozen new offences to combat big money, rogue calls, and fraudulent voting. The act would also crack down on voter fraud by prohibiting vouching or voter information cards as acceptable forms of identification. It would also make the rules for elections clear, predictable, and easier to follow. The act would also ban the use of loans used to evade donation rules.

Fair Elections Act  Elections Canada has found irregularities in the use of vouching and a high rate of inaccuracy in the National Register of Electors, which is used to create the voter information cards. I think my colleague earlier made this very clear with the example of his own personal situation. The bill would put a stop to the potential for these irregularities. Fifth, the measures in the bill would make the rules easy to follow.

Fair Elections Act  In fact, the report the minister is using to justify these massive changes recommends widening the use of the voter information card as a valid piece of identification for all voters. Instead, the government is eliminating it. There is no recommendation in here whatsoever concerning eliminating vouching. It actually suggests that the use of vouching be reduced.

Fair Elections Act  It would give more independence to the Commissioner of Canada Elections, allowing her or him to have control over their staff and investigations, empowering the officer to seek tougher penalties for existing electoral offences, and providing more than a dozen new offences to combat big money, rogue calls, and fraudulent voting. It would crack down on voter fraud by prohibiting vouching or voter information cards as the only acceptable forms of ID. It would make the rules for elections clear, predictable, and easier to follow. It would ban the use of loans which are often used to evade donation rules.

Fair Elections Act  Quebec's health card does not show the person's address. If Canadians do not receive these voter information cards, and have only a health card as the only valid piece of identification, they may be discouraged from voting because now it will be harder to verify their information. It is the responsibility of every government to make voting easier for its citizens.

Fair Elections Act  Speaker, first of all, I would like to make it clear to the member that there would still be voter contact and the voter information cards that voters receive. I would like to make that clear to him so that misinformation is not out there. However, these voter card could not be used as an acceptable form of identification at the polls.

Fair Elections Act  The minister suggested that 25% of those being vouched for had something wrong about them, when in fact the Neufeld report does not say that anywhere. In fact, the Neufeld report suggests widening the use of the voter information card as a valid piece of address information, yet the government has ignored that part of the report and is now suggesting the elimination of the use of the voter registration card.