As progress on some measures in the Liberal-NDP confidence-and-supply agreement continue to play out publicly, the two parties have quietly been in talks to table electoral reform legislation before the next federal vote.
Leading these negotiations on the political front, are Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc, and NDP MP and democratic reform critic Daniel Blaikie.
In an interview with CTVNews.ca between NDP caucus retreat sessions in Edmonton, Blaikie said there has been “a fair amount of work done,” towards drafting amendments to the Canada Elections Act.
While not a full-scale overhaul of the federal voting system as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau once promised, within the two-party confidence-and-supply agreement are a series of electoral reform proposals aimed at expanding “the ability for people to vote.”
Specifically, the Liberals and New Democrats agreed to explore:
Allowing an “expanded” three-day voting period during general elections;
Allowing voters to cast their ballots at any polling place within their riding; and
Improving the mail-in ballot process with both accessibility and maintaining integrity in mind.
“I think if you look at all of those items… those are all things that will require some kind of legislative change,” Blaikie said, adding that the working expectation is that the trio of reforms would be contained in one bill that could be passed in time for the next election.
“I think people on both sides are keen to try and hammer out those final details and have a product that can be tabled in the House of Commons… I’m optimistic that we will have a bill that certainly includes ways of implementing what was in the [deal],” Blaikie said.
What remains to be revealed if, and when, the legislation comes to fruition, is how far the two parties agree to go, whether directly advancing voting accessibility reforms, or enacting some sort of process to further study expanding voting access.
It’s also unclear whether these measures would be in effect for the next federal election, or if the bill would set the timeline for enacting any reforms some time into the future.
On this, the NDP said there have been conversations with Elections Canada centred around implementation, to ensure their desired changes to how Canadians cast their ballots, are feasible.
Expanding the amount of days Canadians have to cast their ballot may be the most significant proposal currently under negotiation.
While Blaikie was hesitant to get too far into specifics of the discussions that have taken place, he said some of the options that have been deliberated include having a voting weekend, expanding voting hours, or potentially adding more advance polling dates closer to election day.
“There’s more than one way to do that. I think the real goal is to make voting more accessible… So we’ve tried to keep an open mind about it,” he said, adding that hearing what Elections Canada has to say about how it would impact their operations, “has been instructive in terms of the discussions.”
Motivating the push for voters to be able to cast their ballots at any polling place in their riding is in-part Blaikie’s experience watching prospective voters be turned away over his years involved with campaigns, both as a candidate, and an organizer in various capacities.
He said in 2024 with the verification technologies available, this policy can be revised while maintaining electoral integrity.
If the Liberals are looking to make further election law reforms, it is possible amendments to enact the trio of reforms could be rolled in to a larger bill. However, that would be a move the New Democrats could only support if the other measures are ones that they can back.
“Issues around democracy and the integrity of elections have been a hot topic in this Parliament for some very good reasons, so we’ll see if there ends up being something more,” Blaikie said.
While neither side of the negotiations would divulge with any precision the timeline or the current state of draft legislation, Blaikie noted “there’s only so much parliamentary runway, and in a minority Parliament, it’s not always clear just how much runway there is.”
LeBlanc’s office told CTVNews.ca that the two parties are “currently working on” this legislation, but also declined to offer any further specifics on the timeline, vowing “next steps will be communicated in due course.”
“Access to the vote is a fundamental principle of Canadian democracy, and our government is committed to further strengthening it,” said spokesperson Jean-Sébastien Comeau.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
