Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I oppose this amendment.
One hundred signatures is hardly a barrier. We represent approximately 100,000 constituents. The idea that someone needs to find 100 electors to endorse their candidacy or it's a barrier to getting on the ballot is simply not credible. If anything, the threshold ought to be increased. I'm not proposing this, but if you're going to adjust the number, I would suggest that you might want to move it upwards, not downwards.
I would also note this with respect to ridings that are remote, rural or northern: The Canada Elections Act already takes that into account—or Parliament has taken that into account—by fashioning schedule three ridings, where the signature requirement is only 50 electors.