This is shameful, because it is primitive. So-called civilized societies such as ours should ensure that rules are in place to protect government decision makers from undue influence.
This is what democratic financing is all about. This is what we realized in Quebec. We set a limit of $3,000 for contributions made to political parties, and such contributions can only be made by voters.
The Parti Quebecois government is depending on no one in particular, but on everyone, whereas this government depends on financial backers such as oil and pharmaceutical companies, banks and logging companies. All these businesses contribute tens of thousands of dollars and, in return, get privileged access to the ministers and the Prime Minister. This is unacceptable, it is a unending scandal, and it is easy to figure out why the government sometimes makes very dubious decisions. It is all a matter of cause and effect.
When the financing process is flawed, it is not possible to look after the public's interest only. The government must take other things into account, because the telephone could ring at any time and someone might say “We will remember this the next time you come looking for work or money”.
Nowadays, governing is complicated enough in itself. Therefore, it is a good thing that the Quebec government does not have to concern itself with private interests. This is the strength of the Quebec government, given the complexities involved. It is free to act. It only needs to do so intelligently, whereas the federal government must accommodate all kinds of phantoms who remain nameless.
My second major criticism has to do with the appointment process for returning officers. This is issue is not as well known. We are talking here about the qualifications of individuals who hold strategic positions in each of the ridings, during elections. These positions should be filled through a process that is above suspicion.
Here again, what we have is basic and primitive; it does not provide any protection against abuse. All these people possess personal qualities that are beyond doubt, but there is one condition that must be met to be a returning officer for Elections Canada, or so it seems, although it is not written down anywhere: to be a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. It is even better if one has been the president or vice-president of an association, and better yet a defeated candidate.
This is unacceptable, and primitive. It smacks of the way things are done in a banana republic. Canada is one of the western democracies that go around preaching to the whole world on how things should be done. We travel all over the planet to tell people how to govern themselves, and yet to this very day we still tolerate having as one of the main, yet hidden, criteria for appointment active membership in the Liberal Party of Canada.
To top it all off, the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada saw how incongruous and unacceptable the situation was, and has long been recommending that the Canadian government change the rules so that, like Quebec, there would be a competition to designate elections staff, as indeed there should be.
Finally—and I shall close with this—the last weakness is that there is not a word about voters being required to identify themselves with a card or some other means. Given the impersonal character of our society and our big cities, it is completely normal for citizens to be required to identify themselves to the person at the polling station, since we know all the funny business there can be.
It is in within the order of things for voters to be required to identify themselves to whoever is duly mandated to require it before giving them authorization to vote, a fundamental right in a democracy.
Yet again, this is a considerable weakness in the bill and one against which we must speak out.