Procedure and House Affairs Committee on Dec. 5th, 2006

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

I love what you're saying. I'm hoping you could even help the committee by sending us what you think could be done in writing. This is your community. It may work here, but what might work here might also work in Saskatoon or someplace else. So if you could....

You mentioned HIFIS. This is another database. I'm certainly not fond of databases, because they all have inaccuracies, but this is another way of identifying the homeless. You weren't certain whether they asked the question if they are a Canadian citizen. I wonder if you could find that out and let us know--

[Mary-Martha Hale]

I certainly could.

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

--because I think it's another piece we could do.

Mr. Hepburn, you also mentioned some suggestions for what you'd like to see with acceptable ID. By all means, if you could let us or the Chief Electoral Officer know your thoughts, it would be very helpful in convincing him as to what you think would work.

I think Mr. Reid hit on the right interpretation. It's the way I'm interpreting it also. We'll make sure when we have him here that we ask that exact question.

Mr. Nothing, if I have a moment left....

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

You have uno momento.

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Proulx hit on this a little bit. We've described a lot of problems in isolated communities. I'll just take you, because you're here today. I'm sorry I can't talk to other isolated communities today.

How has it happened in the past? We've had federal elections in your community. What happens? Obviously it would be to establish a poll and people walk in.

[William Nothing]

Well, let me say first that we've been doing elections since 1960. That's when we got the vote.

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Right.

[William Nothing]

It got better and better as the years went by. For the longest time nobody would vote. Now educated people vote, but the elders and older people still don't vote because they don't understand.

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

They're still not necessarily voting.

How do we identify those who do go to the poll?

[William Nothing]

They are normally the people who have a driver's licence and cards with pictures.

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

So they would have something.

We've covered them, but you mentioned a status card. If we make that one of the identifiers under this act, is that going to help a lot? Would most people have a status card?

[William Nothing]

It should.

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

That would be a piece of photo ID that might be acceptable and we would get over one of the big hurdles using that.

[William Nothing]

Yes.

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Thank you very much. That's all I have to say.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Thank you, Mr. Preston.

That ends the rounds of questioning. I have no more members on my list for questions.

Mr. Reid, I'm sorry. I'll have to ask unanimous consent.

By all means, Mr. Reid.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Mr. Nothing, do status cards have photos on them? I thought they did not. Am I wrong?

[William Nothing]

Three types of cards are floating around. On one there's no ID and no expiry date. The newer one I have has a photo, but it doesn't have security. The new cards that are coming out are like a driver's licence. They've got a bar strip that has information on it. The newer one seems to fit the requirements.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

I realize you couldn't possibly know, and I'll have to ask someone from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada what percentage of cards out there are of which type. Over time we all age and don't necessarily look like our pictures any more.

One thing you might know, how often are the cards renewed? Is it every five years, or ten years? Do you know?

[William Nothing]

I should check my card, but I think it's every five years now. Before it didn't change.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Mr. Hill, I'm going to allow one final question rather than go into formal rounds. Go ahead.

[Jay Hill, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'll follow up with a couple of questions to Mr. Nothing to try to understand the scope of the issues he's raised.

I heard you answer in relation to a question from my colleague Mr. Proulx that there are about 300 people in your community. Do you know how many of those 300 are eligible voters? How many would have been on the voters list for the most recent election in January? How many felt disenfranchised where they couldn't vote even under the existing rules?

I'm trying to get a better understanding of the scope of the problem and how this bill, if it were enacted, could potentially make the problem worse if we don't address your specific concerns. How many of the 300 are eligible voters? Do you know how many voted in January?

[William Nothing]

No, I don't. I can tell you the majority are young people. We have a young population and our elders are getting older and passing on. As far as the numbers, I couldn't tell you. The communities probably have a better handle on that. I think it would be fairly easy to phone and ask them.

[Jay Hill, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

I'm trying to understand the dynamics. For argument's sake, if 200 of the 300 were eligible voters, in other words, one-third of the population was under 18 and therefore ineligible, of the 200, how many were already registered, if any?

We've had reports of terrible inaccuracies and omissions on the voters list. On the list for that reserve, would there be sufficient people even on a one-person, one-vouch system that you would have enough people already registered on your list to vouch for those who aren't, if they desired to vote? I'm trying to understand the gravity of the situation.