Procedure and House Affairs committee  Before I go further, for the benefit of the bloggers in the back sitting behind you, it's the voter information card and not the voter identification card. A few of you have been incorrectly saying it's the voter identification card. The letter “I” is for information. It's information about where you should vote. It's not to identify you.

Fair Elections Act  In February 2010, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ordered a series of measures to improve accessibility at polling stations. One of those measures was to allow the voter identification card as proof of identity and address for groups of voters who were likely to have difficulty providing the necessary proof. Bill C-23 makes it clear that the government is going against the recommendations set out in the Report of the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada on the 41st general election of May 2, 2011.

Fair Elections Act  At the polling station, voters must present another piece of ID in addition to their voter identification card. My riding of LaSalle—Émard had 57% voter turnout for the May 2011 election. Only 42,500 of the 74,500 eligible voters turned out. Among those who did not vote are the groups that have the most difficulty participating in the voting process.

Fair Elections Act  Speaker, I am pleased the member referred to the VIC, because it is commonly misunderstood. It does not stand for “voter identification card”; it stands for “voter information card”. It is a way for Elections Canada to inform voters about where they vote, what time they vote and what pieces of identification they can bring to be allowed to vote.

Democratic Reform  Speaker, once again, of course, everybody involved in elections knows how easy it is to obtain multiple and inaccurate voter identification cards. That is obviously the reason why, in order to prove identification, we have 39 other pieces of identification. As members know, there are alternative arrangements that have been made available by the minister for those who need to prove their address.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  People may have been disenfranchised, for example, and as a result of all of that, people are wondering. For instance, I mentioned today in the media about voter identification cards. Well, they're causing irregularities apparently, according to the government, to the point where it would be great if the Chief Electoral Officer could address this with the public.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I seem to recall you mentioned testimony on this very subject, problems that exist with vouching and with voter identification cards being misused, from members of other parties, and you simply went to the testimony they provided in 2006 in this committee. Those included some New Democrats among others. Am I right?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I somewhat suspect that it might not, but I'm an optimist. Elections Canada also has a rule to tell people the purpose of those voter identification cards, would you not agree?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Well, they call them voter information cards, not voter identification cards. That just points out that whatever—

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Jean-Pierre Kingsley made it clear that in the 2006 general election, the voter information card was an identification card, not a voter identification card. But that in fact was how they were used. I don't think that's the case now. Bloc Québécois member Pauline Picard stated: People can go to ten different polling stations with cards that do not belong to them.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Elections Canada's job and our job is to try to stay a step ahead of people who will always try to find new ways to get around the rules and will always try to find new holes when old holes are plugged. We were concerned about abuse of voter identification cards in 2004. We knew that many people received more than one card, and the availability of extra cards and the lack of other ID requirements created an environment that made fraud much easier.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  There are lots of problems to getting out the vote in low-income communities, especially given the high needs of that community to start with. Our position is that vouching is not the solution, nor is the voter identification card a solution to something. But when you look at the list of all those options and what is realistic in the hands of the people we know.... I went through the list and among them there were eight or nine that I've regularly seen people having versions of in my 18-year career.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. Most of the people who I know who are voting are using the voter identification card. It's a common practice because they don't have ID.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  RainCity Housing and Support Society has issue with two aspects of Bill C-23, the fair elections bill. These are the removal of vouching and the removal of the use of voter identification cards as a means to verify a person's address. My following statement will focus on the practicalities of voter identification for our community members, as this is the grounds for which we have expertise.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It was by Elections Canada and it was round table discussions about how to help people who were struggling with accessing their identification for various reasons, and how to help them vote. So I'm very pleased to be here today. Elections Canada accepts the voter identification cards as proof of residence in specific locations, such as long-term care facilities, on campuses for students, and it really is a common-sense initiative that has worked. Certainly, I feel very proud to live in a country where you can support your neighbour in this way to help them vote.