Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, I would urge the hon. member to wait, because we will be coming forward very soon with a successful candidate in the rigorous selection process for the next Chief Electoral Officer. Choosing the Chief Electoral Officer, who will help us preserve the integrity of our

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, we are in the midst of a rigorous recruitment process to choose the next Chief Electoral Officer. It is very important to recognize that as we move forward, and I expect we will be moving very soon, we respect the privacy of Canadians who participate in these selecti

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, we are determined to increase Canadians' confidence and their participation in our democratic processes. This bill will make our elections more accessible, make the electoral process more secure and transparent, and ensure that political parties protect the privacy o

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, earlier in question period, the Conservatives were questioning why we would require Canadians to have ID cards to purchase marijuana. Let us be very clear that one of our focuses is not just in terms of legalizing but also to heavily regulate marijuana. We want to ke

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, Bill C-76 would actually protect the integrity of our electoral system. It would also help protect the personal and private information of Canadians, and it would encourage and help more Canadians to participate in the electoral system and to vote in elections. Beyon

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives were warned by hundreds of experts that eliminating voter information cards and vouching would actually have a negative impact and reduce Canadians' participation in the election. In fact, after the election, Stats Canada made it very clear that abo

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, with Bill C-76, our government is making it easier for Canadians to vote, and tougher to break the rules. The defeated Harper Conservatives, on the other hand, made it tougher for Canadians to vote, and they broke the rules. We will not take lessons from the defeated

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, Canadians applauded, too, when the Conservatives were defeated. We will not take lessons from a party that paid a $250,000 fine for breaking the law, that used robocalls to send people to the wrong polls—

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, I am awfully glad the hon. member had a supplementary question, because there are so many things the Conservatives did to attack our electoral system that I needed more time. In fact, the parliamentary secretary to their prime minister went to jail for breaking elect

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, we are strengthening Canada's democratic institutions with Bill C-76, and we are increasing Canadians' trust and participation in our electoral process. We are increasing the transparency of the electoral process. We are making elections more accessible to Canadians,

Finance  Mr. Speaker, we respect Parliament and we respect the work of the Parliamentary Budget Officer. In contrast, it was the Conservatives who had to be taken to court by the PBO to get information. It was the same Conservatives who called the PBO “unbelievable”, “unreliable”, and “no

Government Spending  Mr. Speaker, our government respects the work of the Parliamentary Budget Officer. In fact, I spoke with him earlier today, and I discussed with him the fact that this is the first time ever that when MPs are voting on the main estimates, they will know, initiative by initiative,

Elections Canada  Mr. Speaker, when the Conservatives, in their so-called Fair Elections Act, took away vouching and took away voter identification cards, they were warned by hundreds of experts that it would suppress the vote and reduce participation in the Canadian election. They went ahead anyw

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, I thank the New Democrats for what they said yesterday, that they actually agree with some of the provisions in Bill C-76. In fact, they agreed broadly with the principle that Bill C-76 could actually strengthen our democratic process. Eighty-five per cent of the re

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, Bill C-76 would strengthen Canada's electoral system and increase the participation of Canadians in our electoral process. Yesterday, I spoke to the acting Chief Electoral Officer about the legislation. The potential to increase the transparency of our electoral proc