April 24, 2014 - 11:02 AM
OTTAWA - Democratic Reform Minister Pierre Poilievre says regular Canadians like what his government is doing with the Fair Elections Act.
Borrowing a popular term from the former Ontario government of Mike Harris, Poilievre says the proposed changes are just common sense.
He says MPs who have been in their ridings for nearly two weeks are hearing from constituents who like the idea of making identification mandatory at the voting booth.
Currently, Canadians without proper ID can get a person who knows them to vouch for their identity before voting.
The legislation would eliminate vouching, something a long list of experts and opposition politicians insist would disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of voters.
Poilievre says the government is weighing proposed amendments, but the bottom line is that some form of ID will be necessary.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014