Thank you for the question, and yes, 30 centimetres of snow it is.
Regarding vouching here in Newfoundland and Labrador, when I worked on polling day, probably the one thing that stands out for me in a personal experience is that I distinctly remember somebody showing up who I believed was homeless, who was clearly illiterate and in need of assistance to be able to vote. That's the type of example that I would raise as causing me some concern.
I personally don't have a type of alarmism that a lot of people have about vouching, because I do think there is a need to make sure you can demonstrate who you are. Quite frankly, a lot of people I know say the whole thing is a bit of joke sometimes. You just go in, and somebody crosses your name off with a ruler and that's it. But my concern would be people, as I just mentioned, who are really disadvantaged in society, who would have a very difficult time being able to produce documentation. That's different to me from someone who ought to be able to understand the difference.
As far as communication goes, for me it's a bit of a challenge that this is a situation where we have the federal government wanting to be able to promote something, but schools and education are clearly provincial jurisdiction. To me there's a civic education function here, and I wish there could be more partnering with the provinces to be able to figure out a way to make sure that a lot of this is going on in schools. I do realize it happens, but I think a lot more could be done.
With respect to the broader narrative, I would tend to agree we need to have a broader conversation occurring that extends beyond voting. It needs to be how do you get involved with politics, how do you get involved with the system? Even if somebody doesn't choose to get involved, the point is that you're making them aware that they can be involved should they wish. From my perspective, by communicating this before an election, you're conditioning people to realize that when an election comes along, it's about them, that they can be included, and hey, here's the chance to vote. So I would argue that, yes, there is a broader role.