Evidence of meeting #40 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 nunavut.
Member of the Legislative Assembly, Constituency of Iqaluit-Sinaa, As an Individual
I don't know about you, but I think the longer it is, the more tension it creates, particularly in our own little territory. The current time required is workable, and if it is longer, it creates...we get tired of voting issues sometimes, too.
I went to Hillary's campaign just a few days ago, and that was fun, but it gets tiring.
Conservative
John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON
Absolutely. An 11-week campaign gets exceptionally tiring sometimes. I can only imagine with the travel in the north how Mr. Tootoo and others experienced that campaign as well.
Is there any time left, sir?
Conservative
John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON
Okay, perfect.
I want to go very quickly to Mr. Buscemi. You mentioned in your opening comments that you thought there ought to be three senators from Nunavut and that corresponding to the Senate floor, there also ought to be three MPs. I want to follow up on that very briefly. Would you have each of the senators and MPs corresponding to specific geographic regions?
Conservative
John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON
Across the panel—you can answer yes or no—is there unanimity that senators ought to be elected in the north. Is there consensus?
Baffin Regional Chamber of Commerce
I think the unanimous thing is that senators ought to be from Nunavut.
Liberal
Liberal
Matt DeCourcey Liberal Fredericton, NB
Thank you very much.
Thank you to everyone for being here this evening. To our four presenters, I don't want to take too much time, as the Blue Jays' game starts very shortly.
Mr. Tootoo, you and others talked about the problem with voter turnout. As we've learned, it's a problem. Countries all over the western world are experiencing declines in voter turnout. We've talked about the myriad reasons that some elections see a decrease in voter turnout. We did see a spike in this last election, including here in Nunavut.
Mr. Tootoo, you presented one idea on reform that could possibly enhance voter participation, and we haven't talked about that. It's the way ballots are designed. Do you want to take some time to expand a little further on what the challenge is now and what possible reform or improvement options might be there?
Baffin Regional Chamber of Commerce
It's the whole idea around ballot design and voting equipment.
The way it works here and across our country is that you go to the polling station. You have a ballot. It has three, four, five, six, eight choices for individuals to elect. You take your pen or your pencil and you make your mark beside the person you want to elect. You give it not to the scrutineers, but rather to the Elections Canada employees. It goes into the ballot box.
Having mobile polls makes it much easier for people with disabilities to vote. It makes it easier for unilingual Inuktitut-speaking people to vote. They are getting the ballots themselves, so it is simple and easy.
When people look at a ballot, not everybody sees the same thing. People have dyslexia. There are all kinds of learning issues. You could look at this and see something different from what somebody else sees. As an example, Jack wrote his name in Inuktitut on his name card. When an Inuktitut-speaking person sees it, that might mean something completely different from what he meant to write. Some form of ensuring that the voter is informed on exactly who they are and what their choices on a ballot are....
I don't know what the answer to that is. My main point about the types of changes to make is in getting the polls out to the people—
Baffin Regional Chamber of Commerce
—and access to that vote. Access to voting is a difficult thing in Nunavut.
Member of the Legislative Assembly, Constituency of Iqaluit-Sinaa, As an Individual
Can I add something?
Member of the Legislative Assembly, Constituency of Iqaluit-Sinaa, As an Individual
The other thing that we encounter sometimes at the ballot box is some are illiterate. We got around that in our first election, I believe, when we had pictures of the candidates on the ballot itself. In one of the elections I ran in where there were no pictures produced, a voter drew a rabbit, which is my last name. Instead of marking an “X”, the voter drew my last name.
Liberal
Member of the Legislative Assembly, Constituency of Iqaluit-Sinaa, As an Individual
It was spoiled, but those are the challenges that we face. We have to try to get around those barriers that people face and allow everybody to vote, whether they are illiterate or literate, in any language that may be reflected in the territory.
Qujannamiik.
Liberal
Matt DeCourcey Liberal Fredericton, NB
Thank you very much for that testimony.
With the short time remaining, can you talk to the challenge in trying to introduce proportionality in a region such as Nunavut, where I'm sensing a distinct desire to retain the element of local representation? Are you then suggesting it may be okay to introduce proportionality in some areas of the country, and perhaps move to the ranked ballot or the alternative vote in a place like Nunavut? I heard this quite clearly, and earlier today as well. Perhaps other large geographic regions of the territories would see that as a nice incremental step as well to allow for more consensus around who the selected candidate is.
Member of the Legislative Assembly, Constituency of Iqaluit-Sinaa, As an Individual
Yes, we have neighbours in Greenland who have proportional representation, and it can create instability in a small area. That's my great concern. I prefer the alternative vote model, in that it creates stability. The majority of voters express a will with regard to that individual, and whether it be a first choice or a second choice, they're chosen. We have to get past the current practice.
Qujannamiik.
Liberal
Independent
Hunter Tootoo Independent Nunavut, NU
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for coming. I guess you've figured out what we from the Nunavut area all know, because you saved the best for last in your visit.
Independent
Hunter Tootoo Independent Nunavut, NU
Thank you for coming to Iqaluit.
I guess there's just one question. I know that what I've heard from just about everyone today is that whatever changes are made to our electoral system, we all feel that Nunavut and any jurisdiction with a large area and a small population shouldn't be penalized for it. This needs to take into account the geographics of it, and the three territories, for example, should not lose out on anything through any changes that are made. If anything, they should be strengthened, given this government's commitment to a new relationship with the first people of this country.
