Procedure and House Affairs committee  Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity given to the Council of Canadians, and me as executive director, to present today to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding Bill C-76. I speak to the committee today as we prepare to go to court to defend the

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It would. We're mostly concerned about the timeline. As you know, Bill C-33 stalled, and now we have Bill C-76. Our timeline is very intentional, because we want this to be provided for the next federal election, and for Elections Canada to be able to have the time. Our underst

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think I showed a bit of my bias there, because I did refer to it as the “voter identification card” at one point in my remarks.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  For anyone who shares accommodation and housing—particularly the groups I highlighted—and doesn't have their name on a utility bill or on the lease and doesn't hold a driver's licence, it's difficult to confirm their identity and place of residence. The rules are very narrow. Eve

Procedure and House Affairs committee  We are the Council of Canadians, which is the largest citizen-based social justice group in the country. We have individual donors who donate to us. For our campaign work, we do have an international program on water, which is called the “Blue Planet Project”. We have foundatio

Procedure and House Affairs committee  They could be located internationally, so in the U.S.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  We're a non-partisan organization. In our work we focus on public health care, we focus on the right to water, and we focus on climate justice. With those issues, during the time of an election we look at all the various parties. We look at how they're working on those issues and

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  We certainly distribute it amongst our members through social media. We have it on our website, our internal email lists, and those sorts of things.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I believe we were. I'm new to the organization—I took on the role as executive director only in February—but that is my understanding.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would assume so, but that would be an assumption on my behalf. I'm not entirely sure.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would imagine, yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The Blue Planet Project specifically is registered as a separate entity from the Council of Canadians. We are a third party organization to one another. They have their own board of directors. They operate and also have charitable status in the United States.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That's currently how it is.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  No, it's more related to accessing foundation funding. It's something that foundations in the United States are interested in—donating to a section 501(c)(3) charity.