Robert Chisholm

[Petitions, February 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I have a couple of petitions here dealing with the issue of a mining ombudsman.

People are concerned about the mining practices of Canadian companies in other parts of the world. They wish that the Government of Canada would take more responsibility to make sure that it listens to the complaints and concerns heard from workers and others in these countries, and that it would conduct investigations to make sure that our companies conduct themselves with the level of respect and moral standards that we would expect.

[Democratic Reform, February 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, when the Conservatives promised a new elections law, it was meant to empower Elections Canada to fight the fraud we saw during the 2011 election. Instead, the Conservatives are using the act to muzzle Elections Canada and make it harder for thousands of Canadians to make their voices heard.

This law forms the cornerstone of our democratic process. It deserves better than a partisan rewriting.

Will the Conservatives admit that the bill is flawed and needs to be changed?

[Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, February 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Every day in my riding of Dartmouth—Cole Harbour people are standing up like never before to defend the Canada they love. They are calling, writing, tweeting, marching, and doing anything and everything to make their voices heard. I have hosted two town halls in the past month and both have set attendance records. People in my riding are upset. They are standing up for veterans, for Canada Post, and for VIA Rail. They are standing up for science, for the environment, and for democracy.

The government may defy its own election laws, but it cannot defy the laws of physics. It will see that its attempts to divide Canadians will unify us. Its attempts to suppress the vote will drive people to the polls and its attempts to keep us quiet will only make our voices louder than ever.

[Employment Insurance, February 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the EI fund is realizing an increasing surplus. Access to EI, though, is at an all-time record low. The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans has recognized that there are serious problems with the changes that the government has made, and the minister has made changes within her constituency.

What I want to ask the government is, why does it not recognize that the unemployed across the region, Atlantic Canada and Quebec, are hurting as a result of these changes?

Scrap the changes and come to this House with some real reform.

[Petitions, February 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by many residents, mainly in northern New Brunswick, regarding the fact that rail services are planned to be cut in northern New Brunswick. These residents are concerned about the fact that rail service is an important form of transportation, both environmentally as well as economically. They are also concerned, as Atlantic Canadians, that this will lead to a further reduction in service from Montreal to Halifax. It is something that concerns us all. I am quite happy to support this petition, and there are others that will be coming in ensuing days.

[Rail Transportation, February 13th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, this do-nothing budget failed to deal with long-standing problems with rail safety. It also failed to protect passenger rail service through Atlantic Canada. CN is selling off a section of track in New Brunswick, and that could effectively put an end to passenger rail service to Halifax.

What is the government going to do? What are New Brunswick and Nova Scotia MPs going to do to protect passenger rail service to Halifax through New Brunswick?

[Fair Elections Act, February 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, that is a great question.

As I tried to lay out, probably inarticulately, this bill seems to balance the playing field very much in the government's favour.

The question was whether the government should have consulted with Canadians. Yes, it should have. It should have consulted with Elections Canada. The minister said that he did. In fact, we know that he did not.

They should have taken some time to make sure the perception that it was just a bill written to protect the backsides of the Conservative Party was, in fact, not the case. Had the government done that, had it gone out and heard expert advice and brought that advice to the House to help put that bill together, we would not be dealing with the mess we are dealing with.

[Fair Elections Act, February 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would absolutely agree that Elections Canada has to have the powers to investigate in a timely manner. It also needs the resources.

We know a number of members on the government benches have been under investigation for a long period of time for breaking the rules. Part of the problem is that Elections Canada has not had the resources. It also has not had the powers to compel people to come forward.

A unanimously passed NDP resolution would have given Elections Canada those powers. This was passed last year. It would have given Elections Canada the powers to compel people to come forward, and it would have given Elections Canada more resources. It was a unanimously passed resolution. It was passed in this House by all parties.

The government completely ignored the resolution. They are ignoring it again in this supposedly “fair elections” bill.

[Fair Elections Act, February 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, that is a vexing issue.

The question was why more young people do not vote. I take time every year to go out to high schools, junior high schools, and elementary schools, to talk to young people about what prevents them from voting.

These students talk about the cynicism. They talk about the fact that the government does not care about the environment or science, and that all it is doing is promoting the development of oil, as examples.

They do not listen to me, as young people. Other barriers also seem to get in their way. They do not get notice because they are moving around. There are different issues.

What we have to do, and what this bill does not do, is find avenues to make that participation, if they have the will, easier and more effective.

[Fair Elections Act, February 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have an opportunity to participate for a few moments in debate on the bill. Like every piece of legislation we have seen from the government since it was elected in 2011, the devil really is in the details. Conservatives introduce legislation, give it a folksy title, and claim it is everything but sliced bread; then, when we start to dig into it and start to pick through it, we see what is really going on.

That is why the move to limit debate is so egregious. It is the question of the government not wanting us to have an opportunity to understand the ramifications of various provisions, to talk with our constituents, or to be able to bring that information back here to the House. However, that is certainly the style of the current government that we have come to know and not like very much. We will do the best we can with it.

The aspect of the bill that I find so troubling, and there are a number of troubling aspects, is that it is going to make it more difficult for Canadians to vote. I have been involved as a politician, an adult educator, and a community activist now for nearly 30 years in working with people in my community and across this country to encourage people to take the opportunity to exercise their right to vote.

I understand that barriers exist. Barriers have existed for different groups for decades, if not hundreds of years. We have had to fight hard to remove the barriers and remove the exclusions so that more Canadians have an opportunity to participate in the electoral process, but it is a tough slog.

Other countries are making it easier. Agencies that are involved in regulating and administering the election process are given more powers and more opportunities to promote opportunities to vote and to make voting easier. Either through polling booths, electronic voting, or other means, they make it easier for people to participate. Voting is an inalienable right in this country and in other democracies around the world. We want to not only protect it but expand it. We want to get it out there to everyone.

It seems what the government values most is someone who owns property, is stable in one location, and receives direct mail from the Conservative Party or, for that matter, from any of the other political parties.

However, only a small fraction of the population is so involved in the political process that they are on mailing lists, contribute to political parties, and receive regular updates about what is going on in the political process and what is going on with elections. There are many people out there who have decided—for reasons I do not necessarily agree with, but reasons they find justifiable—that the electoral process is not for them and that the government does not serve their interests. They are disenchanted and feeling somewhat cynical about the political process. We need to continue to do everything we can to encourage these people.

Whatever it is that I or my colleagues or Elections Canada or anybody else says that motivates Canadians to cast their ballots during an election, we need to make sure that they have an opportunity to do so. We have rules to make sure that all the polling stations are completely accessible for people who have physical barriers. We are trying to bring in all kinds of different measures to make sure that people can vote not just on one specific day, but on many specific days.

In this country we are exploring opportunities for electronic voting. Certainly it has been done at the provincial level. We are doing all kinds of things.

There are groups of Canadians who some would suggest are vulnerable Canadians. I do not know if that is necessarily a good word, but they are Canadians nonetheless, and they are on the move. They may be young Canadians at university or people who are looking for jobs or people who are moving around. They may be other types of Canadians who are in that type of mobile environment and living a kind of mobile lifestyle. They need any opportunity. We need to remove all barriers that may exist for them to have the opportunity to cast a ballot.

The rate of participation is in the 60% range. I speak to students in junior high schools, high schools, and universities and try to impress upon them that they have a responsibility as citizens to participate. If they decide during any given election that they are going to participate, we have a responsibility as parliamentarians to make sure that we make it as easy as we possibly can. Whether it is because they do not get mail or they are not paying attention because they are trying to put food on their tables and make sure they have roofs over their heads or they are trying to stay safe, they are not focused on these particular issues. They are not paying attention. This bill would not make it easier on those people, or on any other Canadians, for that matter; it would make it more difficult.

I have gone through the bill. I have already spoken with some of my constituents about it, and they are very worried about the direction the government is going. It is taking away the ability of the CEO of Elections Canada to expand its reach to make sure that Canadians know what is going on and are encouraged at each and every opportunity to participate. It is taking away the powers of the Chief Electoral Officer instead of increasing them.

The CEO appeared before a standing committee this afternoon. Members may have heard the minister, when he introduced this bill, suggest that both the commissioner and Elections Canada wore team jerseys, suggesting that they are partisans. What the Chief Electoral Officer said was that, in fact, he is wearing a striped jersey. In other words, he is the referee, but as a result of this bill, he is going to be completely taken off the ice.

I am going to have to have more conversations with Canadians in Dartmouth—Cole Harbour because I do not want people to become more cynical about the process, but it seems as though this bill has a couple of different intentions. One is that when Elections Canada tried to clean up some election procedures that have been carried out by some members of Parliament on that side, the Conservatives are taking away the powers of Elections Canada to follow through on those issues. They are increasing their ability to raise money in areas where the Conservative Party has the most reach. When the Conservatives talk about a long reach, that is what they are talking about: the ability of the Conservative Party to get into people's pockets even further.

This bill, erroneously called the fair elections act, would tip the balance to the Conservative Party. It moves away from Canadians being able to participate actively and equally in the political process. I am going to speak to my constituents and come back here to share their concerns with the government.