Again, I welcome that comment. I think it's absolutely right. There are two dangers. One is about public trust. If there's no consultation, if parties oppose the provisions, if the legislation doesn't work, then this is going to be a real problem for how far Canadians feel trust in the electoral process, and I have evidence for that.
For example, one can look at the Gallup World Poll, which has looked at many countries, about 120, on confidence and trust in the honesty of their elections. In 2011 in the Gallup World Poll, three-quarters of Canadians had high trust. So that's a very positive testament to the way these elections have worked.
In contrast, if you look, for example, at the United States, despite having a democracy for centuries, only about half of the population, 48%, had trust in the honesty of their elections. Part of the reason that the United States has gone down is quite simply the polarization that has occurred, and all I need to do to tell you is just say the one word, which is “Florida”. Ever since Florida in 2000, and all the problems that were encountered in that particular presidential election, things have become bitterly polarized in the United States.
Right now there are about 30 states that have looked at certain forms of new regulations, new laws on voter registration, on voter facilities. Some have been pushing forward, expanding the days at which you can vote, like Massachusetts; others have been restricting some of the voting provisions and requiring stricter issues.
The problem with polarization is that not only are laws going to change more frequently as soon as there's a change of government or change of parties in government, but also again the public feels that the elections aren't in the public interest and that narrow partisanship is behind this.
I think that Canada really needs to take a breath in a way and basically say, let's have a more conciliatory role, just like you would for any other sort of constitutional reform. Elections have to be above the fray. It shouldn't be the same sort of public politicking that you get with other things because they're the rules of the game.
Just on a last note, I think it's quite easy to destroy public trust and confidence, and cynicism. It's very difficult to rebuild it, as we all know. So many countries around the world again have a crisis of confidence in their elected authorities. If you destroy confidence in elections, then I'm afraid all parliamentarians are going to face more problems in the authority of Parliament and in trust in elected officials as well.
So for all those reasons, I very much agree with your comments.