Elections Modernization Act  Bill C-76 would also increase advance polling to 12 hours a day so that Canadians could easily vote ahead of election day if they so wished. It would also make voting more convenient by letting people use their voter information cards, as was previously the norm. In 2011, Elections Canada conducted a pilot project on using the voter information card as voter ID and recommended that Canadians be able to use their voter information cards to vote.

Elections Modernization Act  This bill would implement amendments to our voter identification rules. It would open the door to a re-implementation of the voter information card as ID. The voter information card is simply not an identification card. It is not. It provides information to the voter; it is not a means of verifying the voter's identity.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you. Mr. Gunn, considering Mr. Conacher's statement about the voter information cards, I know that youth really struggle with identification, particularly youth who are at school and don't have a driver's licence. What do you think of the voter information card?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I didn't have a reserve at the time; I do now. In your work, how have you seen this voter information card becoming true ID to help out in first nations situations?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  In summary, the Council of Canadians is strongly supportive of those provisions of Bill C-76 that will reverse the anti-democratic reforms of the previous government, including an expansion of the Chief Electoral Officer's mandate to include public education campaigns; a reversal of changes that disallowed the use of a voter information card as a piece of eligible identification at polling stations; a reversal of changes that disallowed one voter vouching for another; and more independence to the Commissioner of Canada Elections.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Every time Elections Canada or the commissioner has asked to see any kind of precision or any evidence to substantiate those allegations, people have never been able to provide it. None of these cases were about identification, because the voter information card was not used for identification purposes, except in 2011 for the general election, and we had no issues there with regard to the voter information card being used as a piece of ID.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  No. If that's what I said, then it's mistaken. Under the use of the voter information card as proof of address, the elector needs to have another piece of ID and needs to make sure that the voter information card has the same name on it as the other piece of ID. That is what I certainly intended to refer to.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Bills come to me, not to her, at my house, and she still lives with us, so I think that the use of the voter information card as a piece for vouching is important, and you're using that in conjunction with other identification so it doesn't stand alone. I'm looking at other things this bill does that encourage student participation and engagement.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'll just take a moment on the voter information card to say you're right that both students and seniors are least likely to have indications of residence, so the voter information card might be particularly important to those two groups.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Leaving that aside, I'll just point out that, in the absence of doing something like this, even with the vouching provisions that have been returned to this draft bill and the provisions for voter information cards being used as proof of residence, there's still a hole that's being left here. It's one that was in play during the Wrzesnewskyj and Opitz ruling, in which an attempt was being made at the Supreme Court to decide which of those two had been elected.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  We know that one of the biggest barriers to young people voting is the fact that they are not automatically registered when they turn 18. For them, having the opportunity to register and to, in fact, receive a voter information card lets them know they are part of the process as well and that they can participate.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you very much, Scott, for your question and for your request on these two issues. With regard to the VIC, the voter information card, this is really important for Canadians. In terms of establishing their residency, it's important to note that the VIC can't be used on its own, but can be used with other forms of identification to establish residency.

Elections Modernization Act  We know that there are problems with the voter information cards, so we set up a system in which anyone can prove his or her identity, but people have to prove their identity. They have to actually get that letter, bring that prescription bottle, or bring that Métis card or citizenship card, whatever it is.

Elections Modernization Act  Let us go back to Bill C-76 and look at some of the measures in the bill to change the rules that favour the Liberals, because they cannot competitively fundraise, and other consequential amendments. It allows the Chief Electoral Officer to authorize the voter information card as a piece of ID. This is not a voter ID card, as some people are trying to pass it off as; it is a voter information card. People can head to the polls with that piece, which was mailed to them, and vote.

Elections Modernization Act  There was obviously no indication that people were prevented from voting as a result of the voter information card or any of the other changes that were made. It seemed to me that things worked pretty darn well. I do not see a need to open our system to potential problems that could exist as a result.