Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you for the invitation to speak with you today. This is my first time at PROC, so it's a real privilege. The pandemic has re-engaged Canadians. During this extended emergency, 36% are now more confident in Canada’s institutions. Trust in one another and the government has

Procedure and House Affairs committee  What I would recommend is looking at other regions, and I understand the committee is doing this for case studies. I spoke with Elections BC in preparing for this meeting, and they noted that stakeholder outreach in preparing for the huge volume of mail-in ballots was a critical

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, definitely. During the pandemic, we've seen a huge shift to digital engagement, but we know that the digital divide is still a significant issue for voters in Canada, so having that pandemic-proof way of having in-person engagement with social distancing and all the relevant

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'd be happy to expand on that. Identity is that inner sense, that sense of responsibility, that duty. Manifesting that and emphasizing that in the messaging around the election is key to boosting engagement. Going to vote is a thing you do; it's an action. That should be sign

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. It's about making the responsibility more immediate and it's about making it more specific, where it's specific to you and you are the voter, rather than voting being something that needs to get done, something that other people do. It's really focusing on the individual act

Procedure and House Affairs committee  We can draw parallels to the pandemic. For the most part, we have everybody wearing a mask. Canadians are and voters are willing and able. We just need to engage them. At the top of my statement, I cited research from The Samara Centre for Democracy, where they measured attitud

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would defer to public health officials for their best advice about whether elections should be conducted physically on a campus; it depends on how that can all be set up. In my statement, I presented the student experience as an example, as a case study, because there are lots

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Oh, oh!

Procedure and House Affairs committee  What do you think, Mr. Gunn? You go ahead.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I just wanted to note a recent study from Elections Canada that indicated that voters would turn out. Although they're highly concerned about the pandemic circumstances, the turnout is still there. We know from other regions that mail-in ballots have been used with tremendous eff

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Sure. DemocracyXChange is co-founded by the Open Democracy Project and the Ryerson Leadership Lab. The co-presenting partners with us are The Samara Centre for Democracy, Simon Fraser University's Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, Toronto Public Library, OCAD University, and R

Procedure and House Affairs committee  No.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It wasn't a concern that we would go down that road, but rather countering the dominant images that we saw during the American election of people in long lineups and news reports from American outlets about how long they were waiting in line—taking hours to get to vote—and the on

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It would be important for us to look at research on that and to examine how that makes a difference. I don't have that research top of mind right now, but I understand that scholars like Semra Sevi, someone I've cited in my statement, would have important insights to share. She s

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. To go back to the American election for a moment, although it was very arduous, we saw record turnout rates, and it was because of the easing of voter restrictions.