John Duncan, MP;
I agree with your political party in that there is a need for Canada’s electoral system to be reformed. Our Canadian democracy must have a voting process that is fair, is seen to be fair and allows every Canadian citizen of voting age to vote, regardless of their address, lack of address or possession of a specific piece of identification. It is the duty of our Chief Electoral Officer to ensure that every accommodation to enable each Canadian citizen to vote is made, regardless of the citizen’s social status, literacy skill, ethnicity, place of residence, or any other imagined qualification that can be made up.
I see the need for Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer to be completely independent from the governing party and the opposition parties. He should answer to the Parliament as a whole, not to any political party or any governing coalition. His budget must established outside of the usual budgetary process to ensure he is not hobbled by partisan politics. He must have complete autonomy to investigate all reported irregularities and require witnesses to testify or be found guilty of contempt of court.
I see the need for the Chief Electoral Officer to have whatever staff is required to investigate robocalls, in and out financing or any other scheme devised to influence Canada’s voting processes or influence the outcome of any election.
His budget should be sufficient to see any investigation to its conclusion.
When the Chief Electoral Officer finds an instance of voting irregularity and when it is possible that it influenced the outcome of the riding’s election, then the remedy needs to be the cancelation of the results of that riding’s election. Should the irregularity be the result of a candidate’s actions or a political party’s actions, that candidate or party should be disqualified from running in the byelection.
These investigations need to be concluded before the new parliament is convened. A caretaker coalition would have to be established to govern Canada until the investigations are concluded.
Steve Cooley
Campbell River