Privilege  Just as when the member for Mississauga—Streetsville wrongfully said he had witnessed cases of voter fraud to justify his government's unfair elections act, in the present case the minister of state used these misstatements of fact to justify his government's wrong-headed opposition to a policy that many experts and provincial governments believe to be key in addressing Canada's retirement crisis.

Offshore Health and Safety Act  Neufeld, testify at committee that the changes being brought forward by the Conservatives in the unfair elections act will not strengthen our current electoral system. In fact, they will disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Canadians. That is not an example we want to set. We want to go in the right direction.

Business of Supply  Of course, as the House knows now, this was not the case, which invites the question of why the member for Mississauga—Streetsville brought it up if he knew it was not true. Unfortunately, this unfair elections act is not just an attack on voter access but also on education. Bill C-23 would strip the Chief Electoral Officer's power to engage in public education. Under the unfair elections act, the Chief Electoral Officer would be limited to discussing only certain aspects of the electoral process: when, where, and how to vote.

Privilege  I think this demonstrates the need for major change. The Minister of State (Democratic Reform) introduced the unfair elections act. We called it that in the nicest way possible considering it was such a mess of a bill. There have been attempts to use that to make political hay, to try to change things, to stack the deck even more, but in the end, it is not just the laws but the culture that must change.

Fair Elections Act  He does not get to do that when we are at committee, but he is glad to get a chance to do it now. Bill C-23 really does deserve to be called the unfair elections act. I ask anyone watching to hear the evidence and conclude for themselves whether they believe the process is anything close to fair or reflected Canadian values, or is the way we should make laws in our country.

Democratic Reform  Speaker, last night the Conservatives disappointed Canadians and voted down improvements to the unfair elections act. The Conservatives opposed giving the Commissioner of Canada Elections the power to compel testimony. They opposed requiring political parties to provide receipts and documentation for their activities.

Privilege  He then used this so-called evidence, which he later admitted was not true, to support the government's unfair elections act. That is the evidence they used. Perhaps the only reason he came back was that Elections Canada said that a sitting member of Parliament watched electoral fraud take place. It wanted to know more, because it sounded like a problem.

Digital Privacy Act  I myself stood in the House to move unanimous consent to have Bill C-23, what New Democrats called the unfair elections act and the government called the fair elections act, referred to committee before second reading, exactly for the reasons I have just given. There were so many obvious problems in the bill.

Conservative Party of Canada  How does this stalwart of the Reform-Conservative movement describe his old friend these days? On the weekend, Mr. Flanagan said the unfair elections act shows the ruthless, vindictive, and hyper-partisan side of the Prime Minister and he confirmed the Conservatives are indeed using the unfair elections act to give them an advantage in the next election.

Copyright  Why does the government want to change the law to serve the Conservative Party's partisan interests, like it recently did with the unfair elections act?

Copyright  Speaker, as we have now heard, the Conservatives have a plan to change copyright rules in order to create an advantage for themselves in the next election. I guess the unfair elections act was not enough. Talk about repeat offenders; it seems Conservatives are once again trying to tilt the playing field in their own favour. My question is for the Minister of State for Democratic Reform, not the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages.

Electoral Reform  Mr. Speaker, in their unfair elections act, the Conservatives got rid of the Commissioner of Canada Elections with no reasonable explanation. Some asked a very valid question about the cost of this administrative fiasco deemed useless by all the committee witnesses, including the commissioner himself.

Fair Elections Act  Canadians are getting to understand it, and I am hoping they will rise and call it what it is: an unfair elections act.

Business of Supply  It was the current Prime Minister who said that this was an abuse of power; this was wrong. Lo and behold, we now have Bill C-23, the unfair elections act, which the Conservatives have designed in its very DNA to be unfair, to be undemocratic, and to allow an advantage to Conservative candidates in the next election rather than winning fairly.

Democratic Reform  Speaker, the next round of criticism is coming from just behind him, as even Conservative MPs are demanding that the minister amend his unfair elections act. It is not only experts who are concerned. Leading seniors advocacy group, CARP, polled its members and found that 80% disapprove of the minister's unfair elections act changes.