Procedure and House Affairs committee  Here's my point about the voter information card. The information that's on it comes from all the various databases that Elections Canada could reach into. The current Chief Electoral Officer has said that the most accurate document, certainly more than driver's licence, is the voter information card.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I am a status Indian who has lived on an Indian reserve for most of my life. Bill C-23 proposes to eliminate vouching and the use of voter information cards. As we heard from the Chief Electoral Officer here on March 6, Bill C-23 will further reduce the number of first nations members who are able to vote in federal elections. Harry Neufeld, a former B.C electoral officer, on the TV program The West Block just this past weekend indicated that in 2011, 400,000 Canadians used voter information cards, and 120,000 used vouching in order to vote.

Privilege  However, we also know that these irregularities have led to outright court challenges and controversies, which only further undermine the confidence Canadians have in our democratic electoral system. Voter information cards are similar to vouching, in that the pilot practice of using voter information cards as identification to vote is also open to potential abuse and a weakening of the integrity of the election process.

Fair Elections Act  Thanks to the NDP and civil society opposition, the Conservatives have amended the bill to allow vouching for addresses. However, this bill still prohibits the voter information card to be used to prove addresses as one of the two pieces of ID. Voter information cards benefit those people who face challenges in establishing their address when it is time to vote: youth on campus, seniors, and aboriginal people.

Fair Elections Act  I know that the fundamentals about the location and how to do it are contained in this bill, but there are certain things that have to be communicated to individuals that may not be caught up in this bill. I will give an example. Earlier I mentioned voter information cards, the identity cards. They cannot be used to vote. It should say that on the card, because a lot of people will be disappointed. However, can Elections Canada go out and inform people specifically that they can no longer use that voter information card?

Business of Supply  That is a fairly clear demonstration that vouching is not leading to election fraud. When asked publicly about why they would ban vouching and the use of voter information cards, Conservatives say that it is because they are trying to cut down on fraud. However, that does not make sense. We know they are not cracking down on fraud. Elections Canada has been clear that there is no evidence to suggest that vouching or the use of voter information cards has actually led to fraud.

Business of Supply  After the minister has been talking about how he has never heard anyone criticizing or saying this or that, my question is: Where did the minister get the idea to get rid of voter information cards as a form of ID? Who has been recommending this?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Mr. Reid, I am a bit confused. I have here an image of the voter information card, and I cannot find that sentence. I am just trying to understand whether or not it is on the voter information card. As far as I can see, it is not. It was explained to us that the amendments to the legislation make it impossible for the Chief Electoral Officer to indicate which card cannot be used.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Chair. I certainly agree with the idea that there is merit in making it clear that the voter information card is not a piece of identification for the purposes of voting, but I don't think it's necessary to say it in the legislation. The reason I say this is that we did a little search last night, and we were able to find a copy of a voter information card.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  In addition to pointing out the statistical problems with the voter information card as a form of identification, I'll just point out again two stories from my own personal experience. The first was when I received three voter information cards when I was living in a house on my own.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Maybe Elections Canada should do this. I don't know if the government has thought of this. You should write on this voter information card in bold letters, “You cannot use this piece of identification for voting”. It needs to be in bold letters, because we will have problems if that's not done. I want to reiterate what was said earlier by Professor Scott about the importance of these voter information cards.

Privilege  The House Leader of the Official Opposition claimed that the Minister of State for Democratic Reform had deliberately misled the House when, in providing answers during question period on April 2, 2014, with respect to why voter information cards were being removed as possible forms of identification for voters, he stated that, “There are regular reports of people receiving multiple cards and using them to vote multiple times”.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The point is that people whose addresses have changed recently are the most likely not to be on the list, as indicated by the fact that they aren't getting a voter information card, so how to get a voter information card, how to get on the list of voters, how to become a candidate, how to vote when you are disabled.... As we saw from our witnesses, there are numerous forms of disabilities.

Citizen Voting Act  Elections Canada estimates that there are about 40,000 names of non-citizens currently listed in the national Register of Electors. This means that there are 40,000 non-citizens who could easily obtain a voter information card telling them where and how to vote, and could therefore go to a polling station and vote. As we know, that is in fact illegal. That is why the citizen voting act will authorize Canada’s Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to provide the Chief Electoral Officer with the name, gender, date of birth and addresses of non-citizens, so that Elections Canada can compare the data and remove non-citizens from the national register of electors.

Citizen Voting Act  Elections Canada estimates that there are approximately 40,000 non-citizens currently on the National Register of Electors. That means that 40,000 non-citizens could receive voter information cards telling them to vote, even though they are not qualified to do so. To deal with this unsettling issue, the citizens voting act authorizes my colleague, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, to provide the Chief Electoral Officer with information of persons who are not Canadian citizens, including their name, gender, date of birth, and addresses.