XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ab.politics   
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   From: {~_~}@nyet.ca   
      
   CBC News Posted: Apr 15, 2014   
      
      
   Fair elections act: 7 things you may not know   
      
   Vouching has been in the spotlight, but there's much more to be found in   
   242-page Bill C-23   
      
      
   Most of the debate about the changes the government wants to make to how   
   Canadians vote and run elections has centred around vouching.   
   But there are many more controversial measures inside Bill C-23.  Here   
   are seven things you may not know about the proposed fair elections act.   
   . . .   
      
      
   1. Party-appointed election workers   
      
   The government wants to introduce rules that would let the winning   
   candidate of the previous election — the member of Parliament — choose   
   some of the workers at polling stations.   
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   The candidate would select the deputy returning officers, and central   
   poll supervisors.   
   Poll clerks would continue to be selected by the candidate who finished   
   second in the previous election, or by the riding association or party   
   backing the candidate.   
      
   The bill's clause 20 would allow a returning officer to refuse   
   appointments on "reasonable grounds," but doesn't set out what qualify   
   as reasonable grounds.   
      
   Under current legislation, those workers are appointed by returning   
   officers, who are hired by Elections Canada. The central poll   
   supervisors, for example, are put in place at polling stations to make   
   sure voting unfolds smoothly.   
      
   Harry Neufeld, British Columbia's former chief electoral officer and an   
   independent election consultant, told the CBC's Rosemary Barton last   
   month that the move is "completely inappropriate in a democracy."   
   Neufeld told reporters later in March that the bill is an attempt to   
   tilt the playing field in favour of the Conservatives.   
      
      
   2. New spending loopholes   
      
   Often, updating legislation means closing loopholes. In this case, the   
   bill would also loosen campaign spending rules to create a loophole.   
      
   Clause 86 of the new bill would let political parties spend as much as   
   they want on election fundraising from people who have contributed $20   
   or more in the last five years.   
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   Right now, if a party hires a company to solicit money during an   
   election, that counts as an election expense.  Election expenses are   
   capped based on the population.   
      
   One concern about the loophole is that it would let the parties not only   
   raise funds but solicit support from voters in those calls, emails or   
   mailouts.   
      
   As former chief electoral officer Jean-Pierre Kingsley said, it's hard   
   to separate what Elections Canada calls advertising calls from   
   fundraising calls.  Both are currently included under the spending cap,   
   which is meant to ensure an even playing field for all candidates.   
   Exempting the fundraising calls would allow the parties with more money   
   to spend more hiring professional fundraisers to raise more money.   
      
   "It is simply not possible to seek funds without including reasons for   
   giving, and this can only constitute advertising for or against a party   
   or a candidate.  Moreover, it favours richer and established parties to   
   the detriment of small and especially newer parties," Kingsley told MPs   
   at the procedure and House affairs committee on March 25.   
      
   The Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee will recommend   
   removing that loophole, the CBC's Leslie MacKinnon reported Monday.   
      
   The bill also increases donation limits from $1,200 to $1,500 a year.   
      
      
   3. CEO gag order   
      
   Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand says he's concerned about a measure   
   that would limit what he can say publicly.   
      
   The act would change the current Canada Elections Act's section 18 to   
   limit the topics on which the chief electoral officer can speak. The   
   bill's clause 7 would allow him only five topics:   
      
        How to become a candidate.   
        How voters can add their names to the voters list or have it corrected.   
        How voters can cast ballots.   
        How voters can prove their identity and address.   
        How voters with disabilities can get into polling stations and mark   
   their ballots.   
      
   Mayrand told the Senate committee last week that he's concerned the   
   chief electoral officer would no longer be able to alert the public to   
   problems during an election or even to work with programs that teach   
   students about civic affairs and how elections work.   
      
   The Senate committee is recommending allowing the chief electoral   
   officer to continue his work with those programs and that he be allowed   
   to notify the public of problems.   
      
      
   4. Notification of investigation   
      
   On the flip side of that, the commissioner of Canada Elections — the   
   person who investigates possible wrongdoing under the Elections Act —   
   would have to tell people being investigated about the probe.   
      
   Section 510 of the existing law would see a number of changes, including   
   an instruction to provide written notice "as soon as feasible after   
   beginning an investigation ... to the person whose conduct is being   
   investigated."   
      
   Proposed changes would provide the commissioner an out, however, noting   
   that notice "is not to be given if, in the commissioner’s opinion, to do   
   so might compromise or hinder the investigation or any other investigation."   
      
      
   5. Using the voter information card   
      
   In 2011, Elections Canada tested a pilot program that let groups of   
   voters use their voter information cards as proof of address.   
   Approximately 400,000 Canadians living on reserves, in long-term care or   
   studying at post-secondary institutions used their VICs as proof of   
   address that year, and Mayrand recommended using the VICs for all voters   
   starting in 2015.   
      
   Bill C-23 would ban that option.   
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   Prior to 2007, voters in Canada didn't have to show ID if they were on   
   the voters list.  For those without a driver's licence, it can be   
   difficult to prove their address.   
      
   Conservative MPs and senators say that the cards are riddled with   
   errors. Mayrand admits there's a seven per cent error rate, which   
   translates into more than 1.6 million mistakes on the cards.   
      
   Mayrand told MPs on the procedure and House affairs committee that about   
   250,000 Canadians move during a five-week election campaign, making some   
   IDs out of sync with their addresses for a few weeks.   
      
   "Even driver's licences may not have correct addresses.  That's why we   
   have a revision process that allows electors to update their address,   
   and at some point in time during the election, I would suggest — we   
   could have a debate on this — that the VIC is the most precise piece of   
      
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