The Liberals introduced legislation Tuesday aimed at expanding voting access and targeting electoral interference and the spread of disinformation.
Bill C-65 introduces a suite of amendments to the Canada Elections Act as part of the Liberals’ political pact with the NDP. But it delays two key aspects of that agreement: spreading the official election day over three days and allowing voters to vote at any polling station in their riding.
Speaking to reporters after the bill was tabled, Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc and NDP democratic reform critic Daniel Blaikie said Elections Canada raised concerns about implementing those two reforms before the next election.
The Liberals’ agreement with the NDP proposed to allow voters to cast their ballot at any polling station in their riding. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)
If passed, C-65 would instead aim to implement those changes by 2029, while asking Canada’s chief electoral officer to report back to Parliament on progress toward those changes in the meantime.
LeBlanc said it’s “certainly our hope” that those changes could be made sooner.
“The principal objective was to improve access to ballots, improve the ability of Canadians to participate in the electoral system,” he said. “Elections Canada identified some reasonable concerns.”
LeBlanc said allowing voters to cast their ballot at any polling station in their riding would require Elections Canada to adopt new technology so that a person would be removed from the voter list across the district once their ballot is cast.
For an expanded, three-day voting period, LeBlanc said Elections Canada’s concerns were more “operational” because it would have to ensure that buildings typically used as polling stations — such as schools and religious centres — would be available for more than one day.
Blaikie said Elections Canada’s concerns were understandable.
“We wanted to be sensitive to those concerns. We wanted to make progress but do it in a way that’s realizable,” he said.
NDP MP Daniel Blaikie rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
The legislation does include proposals that, if passed, could be implemented in time for the next election. Those proposals include the addition of two extra days of advance voting and making the “Vote on Campus” program for post-secondary students permanent.
Canadians who wish to vote by mail would also be able to register for a mail-in-ballot online and return their ballot to their polling station in person if they missed the mailing deadline. The bill also contains provisions to allow for more flexibility for voting in long-term care facilities.
The bill also contains a suite of measures the government says are meant to safeguard election integrity. Those measures include prohibiting political donations made through money orders, prepaid gift cards and cryptocurrencies. The government says it also would expand third party contribution rules to target donations being made by foreign entities.
Current laws about impersonating a candidate would also be expanded to cover artificial intelligence or “deep fakes.”
The bill also would make it an offence to “make false statements” about the electoral process, such as misleading statements about who is allowed to vote and how to register to vote.
Federal law requires that the next election be held no later than October 2025.
LeBlanc said the intention is for parliamentarians to “ensure that this legislation can be in place as quickly as possible.”
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
