Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, a student card is an acceptable form of identification according to Elections Canada. However, one out of six voter information cards contains mistakes. That is too many. An episode of the television program Infoman showed two people voting twice with these cards. T

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, the member's interpretation of the changes that would come to section 18 of the Canada Elections Act is in fact false. The purpose of those changes is to focus Elections Canada's purchased advertising on the basics of voting: where, when, and what ID to bring. Why

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, according to sections 533, 534 and 535 of the Canada Elections Act, the Chief Electoral Officer will not only be authorized to continue to communicate with Canadians, he will be required to do so. The changes we are making to section 18 would focus Elections Canada'

Democratic Reform  Mr. 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 fal

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, once again it is quite the contrary. I have a list in my hands of the eligible ID that people can use, and it does include the student ID card. There are 38 other forms of identification that Elections Canada will be required under law to inform students of. Further

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, this is the problem that arises when the NDP members take a stance on a bill that they have never read. Not only will the Chief Electoral Officer have the right to speak, but he will be required to do so. Under sections 533, 534 and 535, he is required to report to

Fair Elections Act  Mr. Speaker, the member suggested that the Director of Public Prosecutions is not independent enough to house, in his office, the Commissioner of Canada Elections. These criticisms mark the first occasion when we have had any suggestion from the opposition that the Director of Pu

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, the provisions that the member describes are features of the existing Canada Elections Act. They are not new provisions created by the fair elections act. I note that he has made some suggestions and I invite him to bring them to me for my consideration. He might a

41st General Election  Mr. Speaker, the question was about the powers of the existing election commissioner. Let us clarify. First of all, he can compel testimony before the courts after charges are laid through something called a subpoena. He can compel documents by seeking a warrant from a judge, an

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, the member does not want any debate at all. In fact, he declared his opposition to the bill before he even read a single word of it. But that being said, all Canadians will be able to have their voice heard. We encourage them to make submissions to the committee and

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary committee will obviously be able to hear testimony from Canadians from all regions of Canada. That is still the case and will be for these discussions. At the same time, we will protect the integrity of the vote by preventing methods that have shown

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, the question is based on misinformation. Firstly, the changes we are making to section 17 of the Canada Elections Act will shift Elections Canada's ads to more practical notions such as how, where and when to vote. That is the information that Canadians need, young

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, the NDP members have not read the Canada Elections Act. Sections 533, 534 and 535 already require the Chief Electoral Officer to testify and submit a report before Parliament, which automatically becomes public. These sections are not being changed in any way in the

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, in fact, the member is wrong. Twenty-five per cent of cases where vouching was used resulted in irregularities, according to Elections Canada's own reports. The same reports said that the irregularities were serious in nature. In fact, the Ontario Superior Court inv

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, here is what I really think. I think that Elections Canada's own report should be listened to. Here is what it says: Averaged across 308 ridings, elections officials made over 500 serious administrative errors per electoral district on Election Day. Obviously, this