Democratic Reform  The former British Columbia chief electoral officer, Harry Neufeld, who was being quoted indiscriminately, decided to set the record straight. In 2011, 400,000 people used voter information cards to prove their address, and another 120,000 people had someone vouch for them so they could vote. Does the minister agree that if he gets rid of vouching and voter information cards, 520,000 people could be disenfranchised?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Does that help them if they move away to school and they're sharing a place and only one person has their name on that house as residence? I don't think so in the case of voter information cards. If it comes to be that this passes and section 18 is restricted, we'll focus our information that we provide to schools. Everyone will put more energy into just the when, where, and how to vote.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That would be a very practical solution that would allow people to eliminate errors that are currently linked to the use of vouchers and the use of the voter information card. Do you think that broadening the pool of candidates for these election official positions, and hiring these people earlier and training them better, would be an acceptable way of improving the voucher system?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  They're new to the community and they're not sure where the voting takes place. They don't get a voter information card. Sometimes they're given information cards that give the wrong location. That can happen too. This is a significant problem, and it is not going to be resolved by an advertising campaign about why you should vote.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Bill C-23 makes it more difficult to satisfy voter identification requirements by removing the voter information card from the list of approved type two documents and by eliminating vouching, the fail-safe method. I would encourage a rethinking of both these changes. Only about 85% of Canadians possess a type one identity document, such as a driver's licence.

Business of Supply  Speaker, I want to make sure my colleague is fully aware that whenever the minister lists 39 original documents, the fact of the matter is that an individual needs to have two pieces of ID for the most part, and the biggest problem for many people in the country is showing their address. That is where the voter information card has been very useful, from Elections Canada's perspective. I will read very briefly from a Toronto Star op-ed piece by Marjaleena Repo, on March 14, entitled “...government's Fair Elections Act: bad news for voters”.

Business of Supply  Speaker, there are a couple of reasons why the assertions the member made in coming to the question would be wrong. First, he indicated he feels the voter information cards should be used as identification and that would not create any errors or potential for fraud. Frankly, as I outlined in my speech, it is very clear there are errors in one in six of these voter information cards.

Business of Supply  The primary devices for this would be getting rid of the voter identification methods of vouching and the use of voter information cards as authorized by the Chief Electoral Officer. Second, it is an active attempt to encourage voter apathy and disengagement, with perhaps the single most important factor being getting rid of Elections Canada's public education and outreach mandate in an incredibly brutal way.

Democratic Reform  Speaker, top election experts were crystal clear yesterday that the minister's bill is based on make-believe and fearmongering. His plan to unilaterally end all use of the voter information card is not based on any evidence of voter fraud whatsoever. In 2011, 73% of the electors who voted in seniors residences and long-term care facilities cast their votes using their voter information cards.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  You were quite clear on this in your presentation, but I still have some questions about the voter information cards. Can you confirm that you or Elections Canada have not recommended that voter information cards no longer be accepted?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Mr. Mayrand, the problem with there being a lack of integrity to the voter information card and to the address list and the database on which it's based is not something new. It predates your tenure as the Chief Electoral Officer. I raised this matter with your predecessor.

Privilege  He suddenly realized that his story was completely fabricated and that he was gravely mistaken when he said that he had seen, with his own eyes, people using voter information cards to commit election fraud. It took him 18 days. I would like to know what went through his mind on February 6. Did he have a psychotic episode? Was he under the influence of drugs?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The reality is that Elections Canada has acknowledged that one in six people on the national register of electors has false information associated with their name. That false information then flows onto the voter information card. We cannot have voter information cards that have errors one in six times used to identify voters at the polls. It is too susceptible to abuse. That's why we're removing that form of ID.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm not sure whether you are aware, but in 2011, 62% of students who had the option available used the voter information card when they voted. Now you are taking that option away from them. Students will no longer be able to use the voter information card that the Chief Electoral Officer authorized in 2011 as part of a pilot project.

Democratic Reform  Speaker, it is quite the contrary. Canadians voted for many years without using the voter information card as a form of identification. It is a rather new phenomenon and a quite unsecure one. In fact, according to Elections Canada's own information, one in six people have false information on their voter information cards, and that can be used for the purposes of voter fraud.