Evidence of meeting #29 for Electoral Reform in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was young.
5 p.m.
Conservative
Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
Concerning the possibility of holding a referendum, I think you were very clear. You think it is necessary that the population be consulted before any reform takes place.
Is that correct?
5 p.m.
President, Regroupement des étudiants et étudiantes du Cégep de Lanaudière
In fact, I think that the reform can be proposed and planned. A project to reform the Canada Elections Act can be tabled, but before it is adopted, it needs to be approved by the population in order that the party in power not use the reform of the Canada Elections Act for partisan ends.
5 p.m.
Conservative
Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
Ms. Perreault, I think that your group is also suggesting, as did Ms. Chaput earlier as an individual, that the population be consulted on the reform or the choice that could be made.
5 p.m.
General Manager, FADOQ-Région Lanaudière
Yes. In 2014, when we tabled our brief, one of the recommendations was that we be consulted on the reform. That is why we are very pleased with what is going on currently. You have to go further, naturally. There has to be a broader consultation of citizens, given the very different territorial realities from one end of Canada to the other. You also have to keep that in mind.
In addition to showing transparency, this will encourage greater involvement among citizens, who maybe more interested when the time comes to go and vote.
5:05 p.m.
Conservative
Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
Mr. Mireault, I invite you to become a candidate in 2019, for the party of your choice. We certainly need young people like you.
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
5:05 p.m.
NDP
Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Perreault and Mr. Mireault.
You spoke about accessibility, which is your central theme, we understand, but you also mentioned the need to reflect the diversity of opinions and voices within our Parliaments.
Now, I just want to stress that, in the current system, MPs can be elected with 30% or 35% of the vote when there are three or four candidates on the ballot. In a case like that, it is true that people may think that their vote doesn’t count.
In the last election, nine million votes were cast to elect no member at all. That is also causing problems with representation. There are Conservatives on the Island of Montreal, but no Conservative MPs for the Island of Montreal represent those people. There are Conservatives and New Democrats in the Maritimes, but no MPs from those parties represent the Maritimes and Atlantic regions. We could give you scores of examples like this. For us, these distortions have an impact when people take the time to go and vote. They sometimes find that their votes don’t really matter, that their voices don’t reach Parliament.
How do you see it?
5:05 p.m.
General Manager, FADOQ-Région Lanaudière
You are right.
It’s disappointing for anyone casting a ballot to see that the candidate they voted for wasn’t elected, even though he or she got a good percentage of the vote. However, it’s always fairly difficult to find a mechanism that would please everyone. I don’t know how a balanced representation of Conservatives, New Democrats, Liberals and the Green Party could be achieved. The mechanics aren’t easy, and I doubt the solution will be found in the next three years because the analysis needs to be much broader than what we’re doing now.
Each party has the right to be duly represented in the House of Commons. That’s where the issue mainly lies. Is it important to get minister positions? That may not be the issue. But it is important to resolve the representativity issue so that the number of interventions by each party in the House is no longer established based on the votes received. That might be something to look at.
I’m not saying that it isn’t nice to be in power, but often the questions asked by the opposition put more pressure on the government. So perhaps it’s worth thinking about the distribution of speaking rights and your presence in the House. From the moment you are elected as an MP, you are again—
5:05 p.m.
NDP
Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I only have five minutes for two witnesses.
Still, we need to have a chance to be elected, which is why we’re studying the voting system.
5:05 p.m.
NDP
Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
Mr. Mireault, it seems you are a student: you are certainly studious. You have studied the effects of the voting system and the preferential technique, which creates or strengthens bipartisanism.
Australia is the only example of a democracy similar to ours that has had this voting system for a long time. In the last four elections, the country’s two main parties have had between 96% and 99% of members elected. We in the NDP do not see that as an option that provides better representation or that better reflects the votes.
You spoke about a two-thirds and one-third proportion between riding MPs and list MPs. That’s what the Law Commission of Canada recommended in 2004, and what Benoît Pelletier recommended during the provincial consultations. This ratio seems reasonable.
As for the size of the constituencies, is it reasonable to consider that some very large rural ridings might remain a single riding and that urban ridings might be merged into larger ones, with three, four or five MPs representing the same area? That could be done very easily in large urban centres.
5:10 p.m.
President, Regroupement des étudiants et étudiantes du Cégep de Lanaudière
That is a viable option. We never pushed our study that far.
However, I would add that, even though we keep very large constituencies, members elected from voters' lists could help to represent a territory. They could be assigned a territory that might clearly be larger than one constituency and could cover two or three constituencies. They would help members elected by their constituencies in carrying out their tasks.
Constituencies could also be merged, especially in urban areas.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
Thank you.
Mr. Thériault and Mr. Ste-Marie, you are going to share your time, are you not?
5:10 p.m.
Bloc
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
We are.
Welcome, Ms. Perreault and Mr. Mireault. Congratulations for your presentations. They were interesting and your message was clear. I have certainly made a note of all your recommendations.
With this question, I would like us to go a little further, or maybe just in a different direction. I am taking advantage of the fact that I have representatives from two age groups before me.
In terms of the nature of politics, the way in which politicians do politics, what do seniors and young people object to the most?
5:10 p.m.
General Manager, FADOQ-Région Lanaudière
What puts seniors off the most is the lack of transparency. We get particularly frustrated when politicians do or say the opposite of the understanding they have given.
I include myself in that generation that was, to an extent, used to things being done and said in a certain way. We are not absolutely opposed to change, but we would also like things to be done with much more transparency.
5:10 p.m.
President, Regroupement des étudiants et étudiantes du Cégep de Lanaudière
This is a good time to say what puts young people off most. It's the voting system itself, because it doesn't encourage people to participate. When young people, or anyone, live in a really safe constituency, one that belongs to one party, but they do not want to vote for that party, they will not vote at all, because they know that their votes will not matter, will not be counted.
In my opinion, that is what explains the low turnout rate in elections in Canada, particularly among young people. If my memory serves, the rate was 33% in 2011. It increased a lot in the last federal election, but the fact remains that the voting system does not encourage people to participate. In my opinion, it is not just the practices of politicians, it is the reform of the voting system that will get more young people going to the pols.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
5:10 p.m.
Bloc
Gabriel Ste-Marie Bloc Joliette, QC
First, I must congratulate each of you for your presentations.
I would like to talk about voting accessibility. Ms. Perreault, you talked about that earlier. You said that there have to be polling stations in seniors' residences. I'd like to have more details about that.
Mr. Mireault, I would like to know your opinion about the possibility of having polling stations in post-secondary educational institutions. Could you also tell me about the tools needed to identify voters.
Do you feel that online voting is a good idea, or is it something we should be afraid of because of the possibilities of fraud or pressure, especially the pressure put on elderly people by their loved ones?
5:10 p.m.
General Manager, FADOQ-Région Lanaudière
As for online voting, at the moment, we know very well that the generation of elderly people is not really comfortable with the Internet and technological tools.
In addition, in some regions, such as my own, Internet access is not available everywhere. So you could not take that option and offer it to everyone. Seniors are very afraid of everything done on the Internet. They are never sure whether it is legal or secure. That generation will be changing. Today, people who are 50 or 60 are more comfortable with technology. At the moment, if that method were the norm, a lot of elderly people would not vote because they would not be comfortable enough using the tools.
In response to your first question, I must say that we would indeed like people to be able to vote in places other than community centres and schools because some people with reduced mobility cannot travel as easily as others. Even if parties call and offer to come and get them, they are still reluctant because they do not know them. They do not venture out with anyone. If they could vote where they live, it would be a lot easier for them.
5:15 p.m.
President, Regroupement des étudiants et étudiantes du Cégep de Lanaudière
We are in favour of voting on university and college campuses. Provincially, in the last election, Quebec's Chief Electoral Officer allowed that kind of voting for the first time. The effect was excellent; the turnout rate for young people and students went up. I did not talk about it earlier, but it certainly would be helpful to encourage polling stations on college and university campuses, even in schools providing professional diploma courses to mature students.
As for online voting, we have not taken a position on it. Clearly, it is an interesting option, but it would have to be very secure so that hackers could not crash or corrupt the elections. So we are in favour of online voting, but it has to be on a secure platform.