Mr. Speaker, I respect my colleague's take on this bill. He said that it is important for citizens to have trust in the system; no one can disagree with that. However, I would challenge him on the remedies that are provided in this bill.
Most people think the need to have photo identification is reasonable. We on this side of the House think so. But now there are additional barriers in place. If one does not have access to those documents, we are going from allowing people to vouch in a statutory declaration to only allowing one person to vouch for one other person. We are taking away that opportunity, particularly for those who are homeless. There is no question that will restrict people from voting. We heard that from witnesses at committee. At committee I asked the Chief Electoral Officer if this was a problem. I asked him how many people had been charged with fraud and he told me that none had. We have to question the purpose of this bill.
The issue around privacy is something that is very disturbing to me. The bill as amended by the Bloc and supported by the member's party would allow Elections Canada to have birth date information. This would allow all Elections Canada workers to verify that the person who was voting was the actual person.
Under the bill, birth date information would also be given to all political parties. All of us here know that is about our having that personal information to target voters, get our message out and raise funds. What does my colleague think about birth date information being shared among all political parties?