Alexandrine Latendresse

[Democratic Reform, March 31st, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, listening to the Minister of State for Democratic Reform trying to defend the indefensible, one would think that hordes of fraudsters are getting ready to rig the next election.

Basically, the minister is relying on a report by elections expert Harry Neufeld, who believes that the minister has misinterpreted his report and is reading selectively from it and, in fact, that the Conservatives are simply trying to stack the deck in their favour.

Why did the minister resort to inventing support and twisting Harry Neufeld's words to try to sell his electoral reform?

[Democratic Reform, March 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the minister keeps going on about the irregularities Mr. Neufeld observed during the 2011 election. That is exactly why Mr. Neufeld got irritated and decided to set the record straight.

The irregularities identified in his report were the result of administrative errors. He never said that those irregularities had anything to do with electoral fraud or the voters themselves. Harry Neufeld made it abundantly clear that voters are not the problem. The minister has to stop misrepresenting what Mr. Neufeld said.

Instead of choosing not to trust voters, maybe the minister would be better off implementing the recommendations in the Neufeld report. When will he act on that?

[Democratic Reform, March 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' only justification for their electoral reform has evaporated. The former British Columbia chief electoral officer, Harry Neufeld, who was being quoted indiscriminately, decided to set the record straight.

In 2011, 400,000 people used voter information cards to prove their address, and another 120,000 people had someone vouch for them so they could vote.

Does the minister agree that if he gets rid of vouching and voter information cards, 520,000 people could be disenfranchised?

[Democratic Reform, March 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, once again, between Harry Neufeld's credibility and that of the Minister of State for Democratic Reform, there is no comparison whatsoever.

Harry Neufeld said that Bill C-23 will compromise voter turnout for the sake of the minister's obsession with a problem that exists primarily in his overactive imagination. Mr. Neufeld said repeatedly that there is no link between the vouching system and voter fraud. To quote Mr. Neufeld, “...voters were not the problem”.

Many experts oppose the minister's bill. When will he listen to them?

[Democratic Reform, March 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, this morning we had the opportunity to hear from Harry Neufeld on Bill C-23. He oversaw elections in Canada and around the world for over 33 years.

The Minister of State for Democratic Reform has distorted Mr. Neufeld's report to justify much of this bill. However, Mr. Neufeld confirmed unequivocally that the Minister of State for Democratic Reform has misinterpreted his report. He gave several examples of how his conclusions have been used maliciously.

How many other reports has the minister misinterpreted?

[Democratic Reform, March 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, one of the things that the government's Bill C-23 will do is increase the annual political contribution limit by 25%, bringing it to $1,500 per person. The other major impact of Bill C-23 will be to exempt from campaign expenses the amounts spent to solicit donations from people who have made contributions in the past.

Can the minister explain where he got those ideas? Can he quote even one independent expert who believes that these measures will strengthen our democracy and reduce the influence of money in politics?

[Democratic Reform, March 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday in committee the former chief electoral officer, Jean-Pierre Kingsley, said that vouching is fundamental to our democracy and our electoral system.

Can the Minister of State for Democratic Reform tell us whether he agrees with the expert who oversaw our electoral system for 17 years?

[Democratic Reform, March 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I think Canadians trust what Mr. Kingsley and Mr. Mayrand are saying much more than any comments the Minister of State for Democratic Reform might make.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Kingsley also indicated that vouching is fundamental to our democracy. He urged us not to get rid of it. With vouching, 120,000 people were apparently able to vote in 2011.

Will the Minister of State for Democratic Reform follow the recommendations of the former chief electoral officer and leave the vouching system alone?

[Democratic Reform, March 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of State for Democratic Reform is trying to prevent Elections Canada from informing and educating young people and the general public. However, this morning, former chief electoral officer Jean-Pierre Kingsley pointed out that the changes in the Conservatives' electoral “deform” to part 18 of the Elections Act should be completely removed from Bill C-23. His remarks echo those made by the current Chief Electoral Officer, Marc Mayrand.

Does the minister promise to take the advice of experts and delete the proposed changes to part 18 from Bill C-23?

[Democratic Reform, March 24th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of State for Democratic Reform's briefing book is 200 pages long. He got the book when he was appointed last summer.

We would like to know what that book contains. However, the Privy Council Office decided to make public only three of the 200 pages, and those three pages were heavily redacted.

Since the Privy Council Office thinks it is acceptable to censor democracy, can the minister show some transparency and tell us whether the book contained information on the previous bill, the role of the Chief Electoral Officer and the robocalls?