Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, we are so proud that the Right Hon. David Johnston will take on this role to ensure that all Canadians from coast to coast to coast, official language minority communities and Canadians with disabilities will have access to two debates, one in English and one in Fren

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, there were all kinds of consultations in the past year. We consulted parliamentarians. We consulted Canadians. We consulted media across Canada, and we developed an appropriate plan. I am pleased that my colleague opposite acknowledges the importance of leaders' deb

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, it is such a pleasure for me to get up in the House and talk about democracy. Today Bill C-76 is at third reading. This means that more Canadians in 2019, if it passes through the other place, will have an opportunity to vote than they did under the previous governme

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, after consulting with Canadians, after round tables organized by the IRPP, after the procedure and House affairs committee conducted an excellent study, and I thank it for its hard work on this, we are so proud to announce that the Right Hon. David Johnston is Canada

Elections Modernization Act  moved that Bill C-76, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and other Acts and to make certain consequential amendments, as amended, be concurred in at report stage with a further amendment.

Elections Modernization Act  Mr. Speaker, the member's question sheds light on the process that has taken place since the bill was introduced, particularly by my colleagues from the official opposition, who at every single opportunity tried to obstruct and slow down the progress of the bill. In fact, since t

Elections Modernization Act  Mr. Speaker, I first would like to begin by addressing the huff and bluster from my colleague on the opposition side. If we look at the amendments the members put forward, they are with regard to deleting important provisions like vouching, deleting important provisions that woul

Elections Modernization Act  Mr. Speaker, as I have said to my colleague numerous times at committee and outside this House, I do believe that Bill C-76 takes an important first step when it comes to privacy, by requiring political parties to publicly post a privacy policy statement on their websites. When

Elections Modernization Act  Mr. Speaker, I am glad to know that the New Democrats support the principles and clauses in this bill. We look forward to working with them to ensure that this can be in place for the 2019 election, because we share so many of the important values that underpin this legislation.

Elections Modernization Act  Mr. Speaker, the irony of those comments by my colleague is that even if they allowed many more hours of debate, they did not accept any amendments that would actually have improve the bill to ensure that more Canadians would able to vote. In fact, they did none of that. They did

Elections Modernization Act  Mr. Speaker, I am glad to hear that my hon. colleague and I can agree on the contents of the bill and its importance to Canadians. Therefore, I would urge all members, particularly the New Democrats, to support us in this effort to ensure that we are doing what is right for Canad

Elections Modernization Act  Mr. Speaker, it is ironic to hear that from my colleague across the way, because when his party was in government it used time allocation to move forward a piece of legislation that further limited democracy. What is also of note is that since this bill was introduced, the offic

Elections Modernization Act  Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to work with my colleague on this file. It has been great having him as the critic for democratic institutions, particularly with respect to this piece of legislation. New Democrats are supportive of the bill and most of the elements in it. We

Elections Modernization Act  Mr. Speaker, Canadians know this legislation is important for our democracy. When it comes to important elements like vouching, and when it comes to ensuring that the most vulnerable among us can cast a ballot, this legislation would make that happen. Experts across the country

Elections Modernization Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague Winnipeg Centre for the important information contained in his excellent question. He did a very good job of summarizing some of the most important elements of in this bill. With regard to implementation, it is extraordinarily important tha