The (un)Fair Elections Act

This act of Parliament has been much in the news this last couple of weeks.  The arguments for (mostly by the government) and against (just about everyone else) have been a study in contrast.  Expert after expert has warned against some of its provisions, some of the more controversial of which are buried in seemingly innocuous amendments to things like the Canada Elections Act. That’s where you’ll find the reference to one of the more controversial parts of the act – the requirement for two pieces of acceptable documentation to be an eligible elector.  The act itself is a lengthy compendium of amendments to other acts, new provisions and definitions.  You can look it up on the Parliamentary website. 

 

On that issue, let’s take a look at its implications.  As a supposedly upstanding (no snickers, please) Canadian citizen, middle-class, retired military and published author member of society, one would think that I should have no trouble being an eligible elector.  But for a moment, look in your wallet or purse and count the number of pieces of up-to-date picture ID you have that give your current address.  I have a total of three pieces of photo ID: my driver’s license; my military retiree’s card with a 25 year old picture; and my passport.  Only the driver’s license has my home address.  That means that if I should lose my driver’s license, through illness for example, I would be ineligible to vote in the next federal election.  Some may ask about my health insurance card.  But mine happens to be one of the older Ontario cards with only a name and number: no picture and no address. Now think of someone without a driver’s license or other government identification, or of a university student who often moves accommodation so keeps his parents’ address on his license, or any number of other examples and you see how close to disenfranchisement we are.  Will this mean that a lot more people will become ineligible to vote in the next federal election?  It most certainly will.

The other disturbing thing about this act is the way it is being presented and argued in Parliament.  Have you been listening to some of the government’s arguments?  “It will reduce voter fraud” they intone.  Have you ever heard about any significant voter fraud in any Canadian election at every level?  Even in municipal elections, which you would think would be the most prone to such fraud, I have never heard of such a thing.  But we have to stamp it out anyway, even if it disenfranchises tens of thousands of potential voters.  Or how about telling the many experts that they are all wrong?  Telling the investigator and author of the report, that was supposedly the justification of the act, that he did not understand his own report and had got all of his conclusions wrong has to go down as one of the greatest acts of hubris ever seen in this country.  The Minister of State who is responsible for drafting and pushing this act may think that success in this endeavour will bring him bigger and better things in his political career, but the damage to his standing with electors will undoubtedly not make him or his party very popular at election time.  But that may not be of any consequence when you think of another Tory action.

After the last election, new electoral boundaries were drawn up for the country including the addition of thirty new seats in Parliament.  Most of the new seats are in Conservative-friendly areas.  Most experts agree that this will increase the chances for the Tories.  And when you combine that fact with the Fair (sic) Elections Act, we could be in for Conservative governments for many years to come.  When Mr. Harper said that we would not recognize Canada after he was in power for a while, I don’t think any of us thought this would be the result.

 

If you truly believe that every citizen, regardless of age, economic situation or political leaning has to have the right to vote, we have to make noise.  We cannot sit complacently back and assume that everything will turn out okay, or worse, buy into the government’s specious arguments.  We have to make noise and our positions known.  Talk to friends and relatives.  Write letters to the editor.  Write blogs and opinion pieces.  We must make the current government listen.  Be an advocate for real fairness.