Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I'd like to point out that the proposed amendments to the Canada Elections Act were prepared after members of all parties were consulted, including the government side and opposition parties. I think that the study was conducted very transparently, with a genuine desire to represent electors well. We also wanted to let voters vote with their conscience, by eliminating all irritants. As we always say, people will do what they do.
In the past, deficiencies were observed in the legislation. People could present themselves at different polling stations, and vote again. In the past, we have seen all kinds of dreadful things. For 10 years, the then Chief Electoral Officer, Mr. Kingsley, wanted to improve the way in which people were identified when going to vote. We talked about a visual identification process. For those who could not present a photo ID card, many ways were implemented to ensure they could identify themselves.
I think that, as citizens, it is our responsibility to vote. When a citizen is aware, well informed and able to exercise his or her right to vote, he or she should make the effort to determine whether he or she is on some register. The era when everyone was put onto a bus is over. I come from a family in whose house the polling station would be set up, so I know how things worked then. Procedures have improved over the years. So we would now like to have a much more transparent system, which may never be perfect, but which is, in my view, now transparent enough.
I think that with the amendments we have just made we should emphasize awareness-raising and greater responsibility among citizens. I'm very satisfied with the work we have done here. I have taken this very seriously, as I believe most other committee members have.