Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, that would be a great option, although, as I said, sight loss is such a spectrum. I'm not sure how everybody is doing the actual marking of their ballot. That could be possible. Again, a lot of these people working at the polling stations are people who have seen you in th

Procedure and House Affairs committee  When we were looking at this before with Elections Canada, we found that having the PDF is a good solution. As long as it works with the PC, the iOS and different types of screen readers, and as long as it's accessible and can be accessed through Braille displays—which CNIB can c

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Again, I would agree with Jewelles. With COVID, anything that allows a person to be able to vote without having to leave the safety and security of their own home is going to be key in the upcoming election, whenever it happens. Again, in taking that perspective and looking at ho

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That's a very good question. We say there are about 1.5 million Canadians who are blind or partially sighted. The majority of them would be adults. It would probably be in the area of at least one million, maybe 1.3 million or somewhere in that area. I don't have the exact number

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. It was a very interesting process. I don't know if Jewelles had somebody explain it and did it herself. In the phone-in experience, you don't need to do anything in advance. You just phone in. You talk to someone who identifies you through your various identifications, such

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, I would agree with that statement. Thank you.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would agree with everything that Jewelles has said. I think the key piece in of all of this, again, is making sure that whatever you're doing, you're talking to individuals with disabilities and testing it out with them to make sure that what's being put in place is actually

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. I sit on the committee with Elections Canada and I work with my colleagues on various projects for Elections Canada to make sure they're getting the appropriate responses—not just Diane's opinion, but the CNIB's vast knowledge base.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Absolutely.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you. Jewelles lives in B.C. I'm also very envious because at the moment I'm in Edmonton. We have snow and cold. For people I know with sight loss and other disabilities, winter is a challenge. If things are not shovelled, it's very difficult to use the tactile indicators

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It would be Sunday-Monday, because that would give the opportunity for people who need to get friends or family members to help them. Sunday's probably the day they'd be off work, and on Monday the transportation comes back. Otherwise, ti could be Friday-Saturday if Sunday's an i

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I agree with Jewelles. The longer the period, the more opportunities people have to prepare for their accommodation needs. I also think it provides Elections Canada with a longer period of time to get accommodations in place and to make sure that the communication is out there to

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you very much. As a person who has never, ever, in my entire life in Canada been able to vote independently and in secret, I would really appreciate having the options of telephone voting, online voting or any other option that doesn't require my going into a polling stat

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, I haven't heard of anybody specifically who has been concerned about voting in the election due to COVID. I've heard a lot of concerns about people not wanting to go out and interact in public due to COVID. Guide dogs don't understand physical distancing, and we can't foll

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. If the vote-by-mail option were more accessible, I think you would find that there would be a much higher rate. This is just anecdotal and from my opinion. I think you would find that there would be a lot more individuals who would be willing and able to vote, but that proce