Mr. Speaker, to speak to Bill C-2 is both an honour and a privilege. At the same time there is a certain sadness associated with it because one would have thought that a democratically motivated government would bring to bear legislation that reflects a commitment to democratic principles.
I wish to address three points in my presentation this afternoon. The first has to do with patronage appointments to prime positions in the electoral system. The second is the requirements in the proposed act for registering a party to have full political status. The third is voter identification.
In my presentation I wish to recognize in a special way the contribution of the Reform Party critic on the committee in the preparation of this attack on the bill. He did a good job analysing the provisions of the act and also gave us a clear indication of what ought to be happening.
The government is able to get away with as much as it does partly because there is a certain element of disinterest or apathy among the people of Canada who are not taking the time to recognize what is really at stake. Patronage appointment of key election officials is part of the problem. I would like to get into this in considerable detail.
At the present time returning officers are political appointees of the governor in council. The governor in council is run by the Prime Minister. This is outrageous in what is supposed to be a non-partisan electoral organization. The voters of Canada should not have to put up with the Prime Minister appointing Liberal Party hacks to prime positions.
The Chief Electoral Officer said during the committee hearings that it is critical, and he underlined the word critical, that he or she be given the power to hire returning officers based on merit. He also said that he would ideally like to adopt the provisions contained in a private member's bill put forward by the Reform Party critic which would eliminate patronage at Elections Canada at all levels, but that was ignored.
The province of Quebec to its credit already has a system of merit selection for its returning officers. There is no reason that Canada should persist with a system of patronage appointments.
Under questioning during question period the minister said that there was nothing wrong with the present system of patronage because appointments in six provinces use the same system and therefore it is right. Just because six provinces make the same mistake does not make the system right. Canadians would rather have a 100% non-partisan electoral system in the provinces and in Canada than a patronage system. When Elections Canada helps third world emerging nations to set up their electoral systems it always recommends against a patronage ridden system like we find in Canada.
I found it most interesting that in committee under questioning the Chief Electoral Officer made it clear that he would not recommend this elections act to a third world country or an emerging democracy. His exact words were:
Obviously when I go out on the international scene I do not recommend that that the Canadian system be emulated where it comes to the appointment of returning officers. I clearly indicate, as I do in Canada, that the appointment of returning officers under the present system is an anachronism.
That came out of the mouth of the Chief Electoral Officer. If that is not an indictment of our system, what could be?
Elections Canada has repeatedly asked the government to release it from the system of patronage, but that has not happened. The Chief Electoral Officer also indicated that it was extremely difficult for him to get rid of incompetent returning officers because he had to convince the Prime Minister to dismiss the employee. The Prime Minister does not want to dump one of his party faithful so things have to be almost in a state of emergency before action is taken.
There are 301 constituencies and the Prime Minister is purported to know the qualifications and competencies of each one of those people. It is an insult to suggest to the people of Canada that they cannot choose or that the Chief Electoral Officer cannot choose people based on merit who could do the job of returning officer in the particular constituencies where they are needed.
The system of patronage allows the parties to appoint people into positions. Often the understanding is that these people donate their earnings to the party that appointed them. That is filled with all kinds of difficulties that deny the democratic process to operate.
Formal competitions for returning officer positions should definitely be open to all Canadians, not just to a chosen few. The assistant returning officers and poll clerks should also be selected on the basis of ability, experience and impartiality. Those positions should be publicly advertised. The current system of political appointments is contrary to the notion of a non-partisan electoral system.
Opposition MPs on the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs supported the Reform position, but the Liberals opposed it, proving that the government's position is politically motivated and not democratically motivated.
We have a democracy based on a philosophy of fairness, a philosophy that says the people shall speak and this shall be government of the people by the people for the people. It is not by the Liberals for the Liberals and in their best interest. It is time we had a change in the electoral act to take care of that.
My second point has to do with the requirements for registered party status. In March an Ontario court struck down the sections of the Canada Elections Act which require a party to run 50 candidates in an election to remain on the register and to have its candidates listed with party affiliation on the ballot. The court indicated that two candidates should be sufficient to be recognized as a party.
In a fine compromise, the Reform Party critic suggested that we make it 12. The number 12 is consistent with the House rules for party status and therefore has some logic in its application. The number 50 is arbitrary and has no basis in logic. If the government had bothered to consult with the affected parties an acceptable compromise could have been reached, but that was not the case.
The people of Canada were not consulted with regard to the provisions of the act. They were not asked if this was what they wanted. The government just decided what it was going to do, whether or not it made sense and was consistent with democratic philosophy and democratic principles. Those things were ignored. It is simply there to give advantage to the ruling party in Canada.
The minister has said that changing the 50 candidate rule while the appeal was in process would probably be questionable both as an idea and perhaps even ethically. He was referring to the court decision and saying that while it was in process we should not deal with this matter.
The minister is saying it would be wrong to go along with the court ruling. Yet, when the court decided that possession of child pornography should be legal in B.C. the government said the opposite. The government said it would be wrong not to go along with the ruling until the appeal process was complete. This is gross inconsistency. What kind of government do we have?
At one point we have to move ahead because the court has ruled in a particular way and we have to go along with it. The next time we say we had better not do that while the court is still dealing with the matter. What is going on here? Is it any wonder people are saying that we do not have a justice system in Canada, that we have a legal system. These are very serious problems. The minister also said in committee:
Obviously, given that I'm the minister who suggested to have such an appeal, I'm of the opinion that it works just swell the way it is.
If he thinks it is working well, no wonder he does not want any changes. He will not propose any changes.
I have only touched on two points and already the Chair has indicated that my time has run out. These are only two points in a major electoral act which will affect the way elections are run, the way parties are registered and the way voters will be identified as being eligible to vote.
Every Canadian should be reading this act and asking themselves if they are getting a legal position, a piece of legislation that guarantees democracy, or if they are getting legislation that continues to promote a dictatorship between elections.