Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, in fact we are extending Elections Canada's ability to get people out to vote by focusing those efforts on the information Canadians actually need. Those are the basics of voting: where, when, what ID to bring, and what special tools are available to help disabled Ca

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, as I already said, for many positions, people are appointed by the first- and second-place parties in each riding across Canada. In fact, the current Canada Elections Act sets out four such positions. The same principle will apply with central polling supervisors, w

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, the NDP members suddenly want to listen to Mr. Neufeld, but when I talked about the 50,000 serious mistakes related to vouching that were made during the last election, the NDP members did not want to listen. Those mistakes were serious, which is why we will elimin

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, our schools educate. Our parents educate their kids on politics and discussions around the dinner table. The media regularly keeps people informed. However, the education role that Elections Canada is supposed to play is to inform people where, when, and how to vote.

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, I know what the member is referring to but is backing off from actually saying out loud: the issue of vouching. Mr. Neufeld's report demonstrated that there were over 50,000 irregularities with vouching in the last election. These were serious errors that could poten

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, I will repeat what Mr. Manning said. I have them here in front of me. This legislation, which is a commendable democratic initiative, seeks to eliminate those practices—robo-calling, misuse of the vouching provision, misuse of election contributions, etc.—which di

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, according to the current elections act, the first and second parties have the power to nominate election officers in all ridings across Canada. For example, the revising agents, in section 33; deputy returning officers, in section 34; poll clerks, in section 35; reg

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, of course, we welcome Mr. Manning's comments, also in their entirety, which I will read. This legislation, which is a commendable democratic initiative, seeks to eliminate those practices—robo-calling, misuse of...vouching..., misuse of election contributions, etc.

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, it is too bad that the NDP has taken such a partisan approach to this bill. They announced their opposition to the fair elections act before they even read a single word of it. If they had read it, they would know that the bill gives more power to investigators, imp

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, according to the former chief electoral officer, the bill is an A minus. The committee, of which all parties have some membership, can work together to turn it into an A plus. As to the issue of the investigator, he is the watchdog, and the fair elections act would

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, one of the reforms in the fair elections act will create a registry of automated calls or mass dialling of voters. This will enable authorities to monitor calls and will provide evidence to investigators, should allegations be made. This will all be put on a list.

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, if the member wants people to provide input on the fair elections act, then he should simply put together a list of witnesses he wants to have testify on that very act. The committee in question would then take into consideration their ideas and consider the amendmen

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, the member talks about partisanship, which is why I regret so much that his party has taken such a partisan approach to this bill. NDP members announced before they even read the bill that they were opposed to it simply because it came from a different party. That

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, we have already conducted consultations and will continue to do so. The fair elections act will ensure that political power stays in the hands of average Canadians by preventing special interest groups from wielding power and preventing violations of the law. It giv

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, that is clearly the work of a committee. We will hear witnesses and will agree to worthwhile amendments. Earlier, the leader of the NDP suggested that it was somehow unusual that the investigator would contact the subject of an investigation. This is what the curren