Be Prepared, Voter Identification

Much has been made of late of the removal of the voter card as a piece of identification, there was even a court case in Ontario to challenge the provision which was rejected. Frankly I believe the rhetoric that this change will disenfranchise some voters is a little overdone, it is the assumption that if you have received a card that’s all you need to vote that is the problem. You still need to positively identify yourself by other means, if you received the card by mail it is highly improbable that you don’t have some kind of addressed mail / bills etc that is acceptable as proof of residence.


A far greater impediment to voting, particularly in rural Canada, is that if the address on your drivers licence or other ID does not match that on the voters list (and thus you card if you got one) you may have difficulty. If you drivers licence still says RR something but the voters list says 123456 This Road then you could have a problem if you leave things to voting day. Even errors in the list that puts you to the other side of the street and thus sends you to a different poll location can really throw a spanner in the works, you MUST be registered with Elections Canada to vote. On voting day you MUST vote at the right polling station, at advanced polls and at Elections Canada offices prior to that there is much more flexibility.


There are several ways to both check and correct such errors and it is not unreasonable to ask voters to do so if they suspect the voter list is incorrect, or they have moved recently, they are just now old enough to vote or they are away at school for an extended period. The thing is they must be aware that they need to do so and that is what this post is about.


The Elections Canada web site detailing all the information required was updated in late June and clearly answers just about every question you may have but there are a few wrinkles that are not immediately obvious and not generally included in the discussions about who can and cannot vote and what they need to know to do so. I will try and cover some of those things here but please check the imbedded links for the details.

1. Your mailing address and your residential address are not necessary the same, you may use either one but your ID must match the address on the voters list (and thus the voters card). Your drivers licence with a different address can be used to establish you identity but you then need a separate piece of approved documentation to establish your address. http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=ids&document=index&lang=e
   

2. If you do not receive a card, the address does not match the ID that you can provide, you are going to be away from home either temporarily or longer, you just have to make some arrangements ahead of time. This is not unreasonable, if you want to vote and have a say in Canada's future get off your arse and make sure you can do so. Here is how! http://www.elections.ca/content2.aspx?section=id&document=index&lang=e
   

Elections Canada sends a voter information card by mail to each registered voter. It should arrive between September 28 and October 2. The voter information card gives the hours and address of your advance polling place, election day polling place and local Elections Canada office.
You may correct the Elections Canada voter listings to agree with you ID, (AND vote by special ballot whilst doing so), by visiting any of 400 Elections Canada offices before the deadline of Tuesday, October 13 at 6:00 p.m. (local time). Offices are open Monday to Friday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Bring your proof of identity and address. You can vote by mail but need to apply for a special ballot voting kit as soon as possible, to allow time for your voting kit to reach you and for your marked ballot to reach Elections Canada by election day.
The deadline to apply to vote by mail is Tuesday, October 13 at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time for anyone applying online or sending their application to Elections Canada in Ottawa.
You may vote by special ballot at any Elections Canada office at any time prior to the election, be sure to have the name and correct spelling of your preferred candidates name when doing so as the 'special ballot' is not preprinted with the candidates name and the office may not have an up to date list!
You can find the Elections Canada office nearest you on the internet or call Election Canada at 1-800-463-6868
When you vote at an Elections Canada office or by mail, you must use a special ballot voting kit.
In all cases, the elector must have a civic address for his or her place of ordinary residence in Canada, for electoral purposes. The elector's vote will be counted for that electoral district.


If you're not sure what address E.C. has on file, check your voter registration here.
If you need more help with voter registration, contact them here.

3. If you are unable to probuce any ID showing your current address you may take an oath
   Show two pieces of ID with your name and have someone who knows you attest to your address. This person must show proof of his or her identity and address, be registered in the same polling division, and can only attest for only one person. The identity of a person without documentation cannot be vouched for only his or her civic address!
   

Those living in residence or in a home with a roommate off campus may have difficulty because some of the bills may not be in their name. In situations like that students can get a letter of  confirmation of residence from their student residence. The same could apply for someone staying in a shelter or senior’s residence or living on reserve. These forms can be found online at www.elections.ca or by visiting a local election office.

UPDATE
I am told by someone who recently took poll clerk training that should you turn up at a poll with address information that does not match the listings or when you are not on the list then you will NOT be turned away but added to the list and asked to swear that you have not voted elsewhere.


Remember under the new (un)Fair Elections Act, Elections Canada can tell you where and how to vote but cannot advertise or otherwise encourage you, or our under represented youth or native population, to get out to vote. So bloggers let us take up the challenge and do all we can to get everyone to have their say on Canada's future.


Election date is Oct 19^th

NOTE For local information about offices and candidates in Bruce-Grey Owen Sound please see the copy of this post at The Rural Canadian Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers

Looking Through the Peephole: Harpers Campaign

A guest post by Pamela Mac Neil

The MSM and the opposition has given Harper another pass. What would it take for them to call him on his dictatorial, undemocratic behaviour? This behaviour is now being done in front of all Canadians. This behaviour also doesn't bother the CBC, as they give him full exposure at all of his rigged campaign stops. A PM who only lets Canadians who are from his base into his campaign stops is a tyrant. The exclusion of 2/3rds of Canadians from attending these campaign stops is nothing short of dictatorial. This is what autocrats do in dictatorships. Why is he not challenged about this? He is like a man who wants the job of a CEO of a company and only attends one interview ignoring the other 3 preset interviews and still expects to be offered the job. Joe Clarke said there has never, ever been a PM in the history of Canada like Harper, who does not govern for the WHOLE of the country, but instead governs a select 1/3, who are in fact his base and now in an Election he's also campaigning only to that base. The MSM analyzing his campaign strategy and what subjects he will focus on is ludicrous. How can they even take him seriously. His invitation only campaign is the elephant in the room that no one will talk about. He is literally hiding from Canadians.When he governed, or more precisely ruled he did it in secrecy for the most part. Now in his campaigning, he is STILL hiding. Harper never competes on a level playing field. He is still controlling the message.

If he had been governing/ruling during the Duffy trial and during the refugee crisis, we probably would not have seen or heard from him at all. He certainly wouldn't have given a press conference. Because he was campaigning we did get to see and hear him if only for short periods. His comments on the Duffy trial and the refugee crisis came across as lying and as disengenuous. So even though we heard him at short intervals Canadians got to see how deceitful and inept he really is. He constantly fumbled in his answers. Can you imagine if he had been campaigning in front of the WHOLE country. Also, it was hard to watch and listen to him in his interview with Peter Mansbridge. His continuous lying throughout the interview was very apparent. His "I'm not perfect" pitch was meant for Canadians to think of him as this honest, humble guy. Every piece of communication with him is meant to manipulate the listener. Outside of that choreographed communication, he not only is not comfortable, he simply repeats his answer over and over again, reflecting his anxiety of having to speak off the cuff. When he speaks to his base at his choreographed, invitation only campaign stops, it feels like he is trying to put one over on the rest of Canada, as if to say the other 2/3rds of Canadians are not part of this event, they don't count, you are the ones who have my full attention, you are the special ones and his base agrees with him. It's like he wants to get re-elected by sneaking in the back door. If ever there was a prime example of Stephen Harpers cowardly, duplicious and dictatorial character it is his invitation only campaign. Everything that it says to the Canadian majority is an effrontery. It's like he's going across the country in a 'travelling closet.'

Have no doubt, he is sending a clear message to the Canadian majority. He is saying you mean 0 to me. I will govern/rule the way I want and for whom I want. This government and country is not yours, it is mine to do with how I wish. I don't need you to stay in power, and after all it is only power that I want and my base will give it to me. Harper always thinks that he does not have to play by the rules in anything and everything he does and that includes doing whatever it takes to stay in power. He has not been held to account by the MSM for his 9 yrs of rule and their not going to hold him to account now. What about talking about Harpers track record, if at least in the last 4 yrs? Nothing. Silence, as he blathers on about his strong economic management. Even people who don't know economics 101, know that he has been an economic disaster. This or any other part of his track record is not addressed , which I find very strange. Actually I find the whole thing strange . Harper in his bubble singing only to the choir, while the rest of Canada looks on. His base not only goes along with this, but they think it's okay that he only speaks to them. They see nothing wrong with PM of Canada selecting only 1/3rd of Canadians to talk to. They even get offended when a reporter asks Harper a question that the other uninvited 2/3rds of Canadians may want an answer to. It says much about their character that they would be subservient to Harper and besides they feel priviledged that they are the chosen ones.

A peephole is defined as " A small hole that may be looked through, especially one in a door through which visitors may be identified before the door is opened." Ever the tyrant, if Harper gets 4 more years even the Peephole will be gone.

Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers

Party Platforms, some thoughts!

If the choice is between fixing the hole in the roof and remortgaging the house then the choice is obvious, particularly with the interest rates so low. Throwing a tarp over it and putting a bucket under the drips is not a long term viable solution, that for so many of us finding a job to even purchase a tarp is a major problem simply highlights the position we are in both individually and as a country. If the roof has been leaking for some time and just moving the buckets around as needed was the solution chosen then simply doing more of the same is equally illogical. When your accountant then proposes that you go out and buy a shiny new Caddy with the money you did not know you had, saved by not fixing the roof, would you rehire him!


With Harper promising billions in funding for various projects across the country despite the numbers that put us in recession whilst at the same time saying that there is / will be a surplus of income over spending is troubling enough but that Mulclair is echoing that scenario is bizarre. Anyone who thinks that the books will be shown to be in the black when the 'new' government is sworn in must be drinking more than coolaid and to promise that all the goodies being proposed can then be paid for without substantial new income is a fantasy. The fantasy includes the recently announced $1.9-billion surplus for 2014-15, a $4 billion jump from the announced deficit just a few months ago and revealed just a month before the election....are you kidding?. The deficit still exists even if only in unfulfilled promises and programs! Of course close examination of many of the promises reveal that the amounts flaunted are to be trickled out over several years, in some cases even decades, and thus can be reduced, redirected or cancelled as required. It is the promise of big bucks for this or that that gets the attention of far too many voters.


It is understandable that all the partys (except the Greens) are reluctant to talk about minority and / or coalition government, they all want the power to pass legislation of their choice without having to 'comprise' by 'cooperating' with those damned folk from other partys who have been elected by their constituents to represent then in our search for a better Canada. We have seen what majority government has brought about, and it has not been pretty, whilst the Cons have been particularly destructive of process and ideologically rigid I suspect any party with a majority will not embrace 'comprise' and 'cooperation' which to my mind is what we need to move forward.


I will be very surprised if we are not in a minority situation come October and that will at a minimum require two or more partys to work together to undo the Havoc that Harper has wrought be it on a case by case basis or on a more formal agreement. I applaud Elizabeth May's efforts to get a conversation started about this possibility (probability?) BEFORE we find ourselves in another constitutional crisis. We cannot forget that despite Harper & Mulclair having said they will not appoint senators and that they want to abolish it, it still is part of our parliamentary process and legislation must be passed in the senate before becoming law. That as it sits now it is a body dominated by Conservative appointees who can be counted upon to oppose just about anything that does not fit their view of the world will be difficult enough without adding further dis-functionality to that body by calling in to doubt its legitimacy.


All the opposition partys are promising to move towards election reform, the Libs say they will introduce a new voting system in time for the 2019 election, are leaning towards a preferential voting system but will form a committee to study it first. The NDP say that they will impose a Mixed Member Proportional system and the Greens have long advocated for change and say that they will “establish an all-party Democratic Voting Commission to review past research and conduct a public consultation on the style of proportional representation best suited to Canada.” With even those of us who strongly flavor electoral reform unable to agree on which of the several systems and variations of same is the best option this one is going to be difficult for all concerned. Then there is parliamentary reform, the return to following the traditional rules and strengthening the system so it cannot be abused as it has been in recent years. Little has been said about that by the partys, they are all too busy trying to GET power rather than restrict and share it!


Finally, little has been said about reinstating our scientific research, Census Canada data collecting, environmental protections, search and rescue capability, social support mechanisms etc etc etc gutted by the Con Regime. These things will all take time and money and require a vibrant “economy” with folks able to finds jobs and pay taxes, stopping the exodus of corporations to other jurisdictions and ensuring those that do stay pay their fair share. In short we need a leader and a government that instills confidence in Canada both internally and overseas, are any of the partys going to provide this dramatic change so desperately needed? Frankly I see a few glimmers of light but still await the rising of the sun over Canada bringing a new era of our 'representatives' working together to bring a new day to our diverse country.


Who is going to be that bright light, I have no idea!





Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers