Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Toronto brought up a good point in committee. He said that about 87% of people agree with the identification process. One question that was not asked was whether they considered vouching to be a part of that identification. The question was therefore really incomplete when the minister came to the conclusion he did.
The minister talked about independence. Without the powers, it is not an exercise in independence. It will prove over time to be an exercise in isolation from an effective job without the powers being given to him. Again, to use the analogy, it is the referee wearing the referee jersey but not having a whistle, or one that is effective.
I want to quote from an Australian newspaper. Dennis Shanahan, a popular columnist in Australia, had this to say:
Canada’s Conservative government, embroiled in a furor after disenfranchising 120,000 voters by changing identification standards, has demonstrated the way not to go about important electoral reform. Australia’s changes should be driven by parliament’s multi-party Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters.
What a novel idea. We are setting a bad example.
When the changes were made about the modicum of vouching the minister brought back in, who inspired him to make those small changes?