Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak to Bill C-405 respecting amendments to the Canada Elections Act. I must admit there is great uncertainty with the bill. The summary states that the photograph of each candidate shall be printed on the ballot next to the name of that candidate. That would suggest that each and every one of us would have to send our pictures in and that the ballot would have the pictures of all candidates.
However, clause 2 of the bill indicates that only where there is similarity in the names of any two candidates would their pictures be on the ballot. If we are unclear as to what the bill says, imagine somebody trying to figure out at Elections Canada whether or not all our pictures are required.
I too have problems with the suggestion that Canadian voters are not smart enough to be able to identify the candidate of their choice. As we all know, on today's election ballots the party name is attached to the name. If there is a similarity in names or if one person has the same name as somebody else, there is an indication of what political party they represent. That differentiates one candidate from another.
We are asking for people to take advantage of that situation. In past elections we have had two John Turners running for a seat in the same constituency. It was done for a reason. I believe he represented the Rhino Party, which tends to take lightly the election process. I am a little concerned that the pictures that might be received to be put on ballots may not in all circumstances be pictures of a person's face. What constitutes a picture of the candidate? We are really asking for somebody to take advantage of the situation and to turn it into a joke more than a very serious process.
I do not see the reason for it. I fail to see where the pictures are going to differentiate the individuals any more than the party name differentiates them.
Another issue should be considered. Whether we like it or not, if only two individuals have pictures on a ballot of from six to thirteen people and the others do not have pictures, it draws more attention to those two individuals. Our election process has to be fair and equal to all candidates and not give one any more of an advantage over another. In some cases where two people may have their pictures on the ballot, that would automatically draw the attention of the voter to those two individuals and may exclude the others from consideration. I do not think we want to go down that path. I think it is a dangerous path to go on.
It is a question of when there is not a real problem why we need to change the process. Elections Canada works very hard in making sure that the ballots are clear and the names are listed alphabetically. That again can cause problems if people want to take advantage of it. I know someone who put a name on the ballot that basically said “none of the above and put a couple of z 's in front of it.” We have to be careful that we do not encourage that kind of attitude in making the election process a joke.
In the case of ballots there are already methods that Election Canada uses to clarify such as, as I mentioned, alphabetical order, names with clarify, using initials and using the party's affiliation. If that in itself is not clear, a person can put his or her occupation on the ballot as well.
There is plenty of opportunity to make sure there is clarity in terms of who are the candidates. Putting picture on the ballot would not help and may make the process unfair. I will be voting against this private member's bill and encouraging my colleagues to do the same.