Thank you, Chair.
I'm still trying to come to terms with this sudden outburst. This is not about pitting orthodox Jews against imposing Christian values. This is about the efficacy of this legislation.
We sat here as members taking witnesses to see and to test.... I don't think there's anybody here who's questioned the possibility that the advance polls.... Well, certainly every faith group is going to potentially take a hit. They could go on that day or not. The question then becomes whether the Sunday before, which is full voting, is the real intent of this legislation.
I guess I'm surprised that, from what I'm hearing from the Conservatives, that is the point of this bill. All the other stuff appears to be a bit of flowers on top, window dressing. Now it's becoming clear that when we tested the various witnesses—and it wasn't just the faith groups, it was Elections Canada when we had representatives from Saskatchewan—about the actual implementation, whether this was a good piece of the bill or not.... Now we're seeing that all the other elements of the advance polling seem to be almost irrelevant. It's the issue of that Sunday, so that's what we have to discuss.
Obviously there is some consensus on this side of the table that the Sunday before is unnecessary. That is our right as members of this committee, having brought the question.
The question was raised again and again, very clearly, consistently, to witnesses. And we waited. You don't need unanimous opinion from witnesses, Mr. Chair, to develop an opinion. You work on a cross-section. That's what we all do here. So we've done our job. Now it comes down to these clauses. I think we should simply start to move ahead on them.