Stop depriving Canadians of the right to vote: Senator Dalphond
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Voting is a fundamental right in a democracy. It therefore stands to reason that every Canadian citizen should have the right to vote in a federal election.
This right is so important that it was included in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which states that it cannot be suspended by use of the notwithstanding clause. However, the current Canada Elections Act denies this right to thousands of citizens.
The 2014 Fair Elections Act has prevented many vulnerable citizens (Indigenous peoples, seniors, youth and homeless people) from exercising their right to vote.
This legislation requires voters to present a government-issued ID card with their photo, name and address or, failing that, two pieces of identification that establish their name – at least one of which must also establish their residence – other than the notice of confirmation of registration that the returning officer sends to each voter on the list (often called a voter information card).
In fact, the driver's licence has become the most common form of identification since it includes a photo, name and address.
However, some 4 million citizens do not have a driver’s licence, including 1.4 million people aged 65 and older. The same is true for 500,000 young people aged 18 to 24, not to mention homeless people and residents on First Nations lands.
These millions of people require two pieces of identification showing their names, one of which must include their address, such as a utility bill or bank statement.
While the vast majority of these people have a health insurance card, which does not, most notably in Quebec and Ontario, include their address, many of them are not able to provide a second piece of identification with their name and address.
This situation applies, for example, to couples whose invoices are all in one spouse’s name only, or young adults who live with their parents and do not have a credit card in their name. Even people who receive invoices in their name often forget to bring them to the polling station.
On the other hand, voters usually go to the polling station with their notice of confirmation of registration — an official document — and it is not admissible.
The result is appalling. During the last federal election in 2015, 49,600 citizens went to a polling station but could not vote because they did not have a card with a photo, name and address and could not instead present the two required documents or have someone registered in the same polling division vouch for them.
According to a Statistics Canada survey, more than 123,100 other Canadians chose not to go to their polling divisions because they believed they could not meet the identification requirements.
Residents of Indigenous communities were also affected by the 2014 amendment, as they do not always have a conventional residential address or do not receive statements with an individualized address.
In 2014, it was argued that prohibiting the use of the confirmation notice was necessary to combat electoral fraud. However, as the Chief Electoral Officer regularly reminds us, the confirmation notice had an accuracy rate of more than 96% in the 2015 general election.
In addition, in order to vote, it is not enough to have your name on the polling division list and to have the confirmation notice, as you also need another reliable piece of identification or someone to vouch for you.
Bill C-76, the Elections Modernization Act, which was passed by the House of Commons and is now before the Senate, reinstates the notice of confirmation of registration as a piece of identification showing name and address.
This is a step that will allow thousands of Canadians to exercise a precious fundamental right.
Bill C-76 is certainly not perfect. For example, I see that it contains no provisions about promoting gender equality among members of Parliament, it does little to protect confidential information collected by political parties and it has shortcomings regarding the control of expenditures by third parties, including foreigners.
Nevertheless, it addresses more than 85% of the recommendations made by the Chief Electoral Officer following the 2015 election, including the important issue of greater voter accessibility.
The Senate, which has just completed a thorough review of Bill C-76, must now pass it without further delay, so that it can be implemented in time for the next federal general election in October 2019. To maintain confidence in our democracy, we must assure as many Canadians as possible that their voices will be heard when their representatives are selected in 2019.
Senator Pierre J. Dalphond is a former judge with the Court of Appeal of Quebec and is a member of the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. He represents the De Lorimier region of Quebec.
This article appeared in the December 6, 2018, edition of Le Devoir (in French only).
Voting is a fundamental right in a democracy. It therefore stands to reason that every Canadian citizen should have the right to vote in a federal election.
This right is so important that it was included in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which states that it cannot be suspended by use of the notwithstanding clause. However, the current Canada Elections Act denies this right to thousands of citizens.
The 2014 Fair Elections Act has prevented many vulnerable citizens (Indigenous peoples, seniors, youth and homeless people) from exercising their right to vote.
This legislation requires voters to present a government-issued ID card with their photo, name and address or, failing that, two pieces of identification that establish their name – at least one of which must also establish their residence – other than the notice of confirmation of registration that the returning officer sends to each voter on the list (often called a voter information card).
In fact, the driver's licence has become the most common form of identification since it includes a photo, name and address.
However, some 4 million citizens do not have a driver’s licence, including 1.4 million people aged 65 and older. The same is true for 500,000 young people aged 18 to 24, not to mention homeless people and residents on First Nations lands.
These millions of people require two pieces of identification showing their names, one of which must include their address, such as a utility bill or bank statement.
While the vast majority of these people have a health insurance card, which does not, most notably in Quebec and Ontario, include their address, many of them are not able to provide a second piece of identification with their name and address.
This situation applies, for example, to couples whose invoices are all in one spouse’s name only, or young adults who live with their parents and do not have a credit card in their name. Even people who receive invoices in their name often forget to bring them to the polling station.
On the other hand, voters usually go to the polling station with their notice of confirmation of registration — an official document — and it is not admissible.
The result is appalling. During the last federal election in 2015, 49,600 citizens went to a polling station but could not vote because they did not have a card with a photo, name and address and could not instead present the two required documents or have someone registered in the same polling division vouch for them.
According to a Statistics Canada survey, more than 123,100 other Canadians chose not to go to their polling divisions because they believed they could not meet the identification requirements.
Residents of Indigenous communities were also affected by the 2014 amendment, as they do not always have a conventional residential address or do not receive statements with an individualized address.
In 2014, it was argued that prohibiting the use of the confirmation notice was necessary to combat electoral fraud. However, as the Chief Electoral Officer regularly reminds us, the confirmation notice had an accuracy rate of more than 96% in the 2015 general election.
In addition, in order to vote, it is not enough to have your name on the polling division list and to have the confirmation notice, as you also need another reliable piece of identification or someone to vouch for you.
Bill C-76, the Elections Modernization Act, which was passed by the House of Commons and is now before the Senate, reinstates the notice of confirmation of registration as a piece of identification showing name and address.
This is a step that will allow thousands of Canadians to exercise a precious fundamental right.
Bill C-76 is certainly not perfect. For example, I see that it contains no provisions about promoting gender equality among members of Parliament, it does little to protect confidential information collected by political parties and it has shortcomings regarding the control of expenditures by third parties, including foreigners.
Nevertheless, it addresses more than 85% of the recommendations made by the Chief Electoral Officer following the 2015 election, including the important issue of greater voter accessibility.
The Senate, which has just completed a thorough review of Bill C-76, must now pass it without further delay, so that it can be implemented in time for the next federal general election in October 2019. To maintain confidence in our democracy, we must assure as many Canadians as possible that their voices will be heard when their representatives are selected in 2019.
Senator Pierre J. Dalphond is a former judge with the Court of Appeal of Quebec and is a member of the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. He represents the De Lorimier region of Quebec.
This article appeared in the December 6, 2018, edition of Le Devoir (in French only).