Thank you, Mr. Chair. I hope you show the same generous interpretation of the words “four minutes” that you showed for “seven minutes” just a moment ago, actually many moments ago.
I'm going to start by taking direct issue with something Mr. Lamoureux said, because it is factually wrong. He asserts that proposed section 18 of the fair elections act would prohibit Elections Canada from making contact with people to encourage them to get out and vote if they have disabilities. It's clever wording, but the fact is that proposed section 18 does quite the opposite.
It says, “The Chief Electoral Officer may provide the public, both inside and outside Canada, with information on the following topics only” and lists (a), (b), (c), (d), and then (e), which is relevant, “the measures for assisting electors with a disability to access a polling station or advance polling station or to mark a ballot”. It also says, “The Chief Electoral Officer shall ensure that any information provided under subsection (1)”—which is what I just read—“is accessible to electors with disabilities.”
It tells you how to become an elector and how to make sure your name is on the list of electors, which is a matter that can be very difficult for someone with disabilities.
These are matters, Mr. Lamoureux, which Elections Canada has to a great degree been neglecting. I made a point of working very hard to convince the minister to put language like this into the legislation. It seems to me now, in listening to the testimony, that the problem is that this is not directive enough. It doesn't actually say that he must do this; it only says that these are things he should do. I'm trying to focus him on doing these things, which he has been neglecting for years and years and years, despite the ongoing need.
Having said all of that, I have a question for Ms. Bergeron. I wanted to ask about the voter information card, which is of course the piece of mail that arrives telling you that they think the person living at this house is you. In my case, I get a card saying that they think the person at the address is Scott Reid and where to go to vote. It gives some other information as well. All of that is available as it arrives in my mailbox, in English and French, but obviously it doesn't come in Braille.
I don't know, is a Braille version put out for houses where the person living there is visually impaired? Are some efforts being made to provide people with this kind of information in a form that is accessible and usable for them if they have a visual impairment?