Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I'm Diane Bergeron, and I'm just going to ask for a second as I set up my adaptive equipment. As a person who's totally blind, I use various technologies to help me in my presentations.
I'm here on behalf of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, known as the CNIB. There are approximately 1.5 million Canadians with sight loss. Sight loss is a spectrum. There's no one-size-fits-all approach to removing barriers for people with sight loss.
CNIB has been around for more than a hundred years, and during that time we've supported and provided assistance to people with sight loss. Now we're in this great world of the pandemic, a place that causes confusion and complications for everyone; and people with sight loss are no different in that situation, including in elections.
For over 90 years, CNIB has been advocating tirelessly for accessible elections. In the 1930s CNIB led the charge for the passage of the Blind Voters Act, which stopped the practice of a voter who was blind or partially sighted from sharing their vote with Elections Canada officials and party scrutineers vocally and out loud. Can you imagine not being able to vote in secret or independently?
We've come a long way, but barriers to our independence remain, and that includes in elections. CNIB has heard from Canadians with sight loss across the country in places where a pandemic election has taken place. In New Brunswick and Saskatchewan, we heard from the community about anxiety and frustration over how to independently mark a mail-in ballot without the accessibility tools that are offered in an election, such as a magnifier or Braille ballots. While many people who are blind or partially sighted may have access to assistive devices to help with voting, it should not be assumed that everyone does. It should be mentioned that the tools provided by Elections Canada do not fully provide independence for someone who is trying to vote who has a disability. It's more of a stopgap measure to assist in the voting process.
However, in British Columbia, there is a tool to help people with disabilities to vote independently, and it should be replicated by Elections Canada. Voting by phone has become a safe and independent way for someone with sight loss to vote without having to use an inaccessible paper ballot or without the assistance of a sighted guide. Elections BC and the government of Australia have implemented a system whereby those with disabilities are able to verify and mark a ballot by phone. Not only is this helpful in an pandemic in which a marginalized population is at greater risk of exposure, but it would also be another tool in the tool box to combat barriers to independent voting. In both instances, and to the best of our knowledge, there have been no instances of voter fraud or coercion.
This method of voting helps to eliminate another barrier that we have, which is to get to a polling location. Many who are blind or partially sighted must rely on a family member or friend to drive them to a polling location, or else take public transit. In rural or remote communities, this may prove to be more difficult because of the lack of public transit options.
If the government takes the suggestion of the electoral officer to move election day from a Monday to a Saturday or a Sunday, this also presents an issue, as many transit operators have reduced or eliminated service on weekends. Ride-sharing in taxis or Uber presents a financial barrier as well. Voting by phone would eliminate these barriers.
Again, I'd like to thank the committee for inviting me to testify on behalf of CNIB. I'd be happy to take questions from members of the committee to better explain the voting process for someone with sight loss. I've gone through these processes myself, and I know how difficult it is when you have a disability to go in, be independent, and exercise your right to be able to vote independently and in secret without having to give out information to others.
Thank you.