Electoral Reform committee  Yes, it's something I considered. I think there are tactics out there that we can explore to increase voter turnout. One would be systematic prompting. For example, Stats Canada recently reported one of the highest response rates to its latest census. That might be in part due to the mandatory nature of completing the census.

Electoral Reform committee  Yes, I think that's totally something we can look at on a local government level. Again, we have to think about what we are evaluating. Are we looking at the stats of this political system on voter turnout, that is, the number of citizens who actually come out to vote, or are we looking at the representation of the different thoughts of the individuals in the House, or wherever it may be that they're represented?

Electoral Reform committee  Thank you so much for your question. It's an interesting one. I think we have to point out that what is punishment for one person may not be punishment for another person. For example—

Electoral Reform committee  Yes, a fine is punishment. Some people might find that reinforcing. They might think, “Ha ha, I stuck it to the government. I did not vote, and look at me, I got a $20 fine.” For other people, that could make or break their budget for the week.

Electoral Reform committee  Yes, that is correct. Doesn't that seem backwards? It's like sending home the student who doesn't want to be at school.

Electoral Reform committee  Exactly. How it works in Belgium is that there are increasing fines for each consecutive year you don't vote, and if you don't vote in four consecutive elections, then you lose your right to vote for 10 years thereafter. To me, that seems a little bit backwards and counterintuitive, but nonetheless, they see high voter turnout.

Electoral Reform committee  I'll be the first to admit that I am not sure what the answer is to that. My day-to-day work is designing interventions with kids with disabilities, so I'll be the first one to admit that I am not as familiar with what would be the best way to go with regard to a reform. That said, I can see an option being some kind of melding of the two worlds.

Electoral Reform committee  I definitely can. I have one more page here. By conducting more research, what we leave behind will do justice to the efforts of everyone before us by improving upon our system with facts rather than gambling its integrity with guesswork. An experimental approach to policy change would be a significant step forward for Canada and democracy, and would be a model for our world.

Electoral Reform committee  Good evening, everyone. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and my thanks to the special committee for the invitation to appear before you tonight as part of this truly remarkable survey of Canadian opinions on electoral reform. Before we begin, I wish to make a few acknowledgements. The first is to the ancestral and traditional aboriginal territories of the Musqueam, Stó:lo, Tsleil-Waututh, and Squamish first nations of metro Vancouver, on whose territories we work, live, play, and here stand.