In late May Pierre Poilievre, the Minister for Democratic Reform, announced several proposed amendments to the government’s controversial Fair Elections Act (Bill C-23).
According to the proposed amendments, the Chief Electoral Officer and the Commissioner will be permitted to speak freely with the public and with one another. In addition, the “fundraising loophole,” which would have enabled the political parties to evade spending caps, will be eliminated. Voters who lack address identification will be permitted to sign a residence oath. Another change means central poll supervisors will not be nominated by the winning political parties. The amendments will also extend the retention of voter contact data from one year to three years.
These proposed amendments respond to a number of concerns raised by a small group of Similkameen protesters who voiced their concerns at Memorial Park on March 25.
“It’s a step in the right direction, but the amendments don’t go far enough,” said Cawston resident George Venables, who organized the protest.
“They needed to return to the original act,” he continued. “Or at least bring back voter registration cards.” Venables wanted to see more powers given to Election Canada reps to allow them to subpoena witnesses to such actions as robocalling.
“They blinked, anyway,” Venables said. A second protest planned for April 26 did not take place in Keremeos.
Controversy continues to swirl nationally around the amendments to the Fair Elections Act bill. Critics say the the bill is still defective, lacking key recommendations that would further strengthen elections in such areas as:
investigating electoral fraud, voter turnout, the right to vote, receipts for electoral expenses and Elections Canada hiring practises.