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ELECTION ACT BILL RUNS INTO STORMY DEBATES
By Miguel Figueroa, Communist Party of Canada leader
(This article is from the Jan. 1-15/2000 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.)
PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE OVER Bill C-2, the proposed new Canada Elections Act, is heating up. In an unusual development, most of the opposition parties are pledging to vote against C-2 unless the Chrétien government agrees to substantial amendments.
Traditionally, backroom deals have been worked out to ensure that legislation on elections and voting procedures ultimately receives "all party support" in the Commons, to give the impression of "non-partisanship."
However, growing public criticism of the undemocratic nature of the electoral system is making such a cozy parliamentary deal much more difficult to achieve. The ruling Liberals may have to use their parliamentary majority to impose a new Elections Act.
Some of the sharpest debate has erupted over the longstanding rule requiring political parties to nominate 50 candidates to achieve registered status federally.
In a legal attack on this undemocratic provision, the Communist Party succeeded in having this threshold declared unconstitutional. The landmark decision last March by Ontario Justice Anne Molloy struck down the 50-candidate rule and "wrote down" the provision to two candidates for registered party status. That ruling is currently under appeal, and will be heard on March 2-3 in the Ontario Court of Appeal.
The Liberal decision to maintain the 50-candidate threshold in the new legislation has come under sharp fire. In one tense exchange in late November during hearings in the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, Gerald Chipeur, a constitutional lawyer and expert witness, said that the decision "to come back with 50 candidates just won't fly - my guess is the Communist Party will just come back to court the day after this bill comes into force and ask the court to reconfirm its earlier decision - [a]nd clearly that's what the courts will ultimately conclude again."
Pat Kerwin, the CLC's Director of Political Action, also urged the Liberals to respect the court ruling. Even Walter Robinson from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation stated that "the requirement to field 50 candidates entrenches the existing party structure and stifles participation by other voices in the election process. It is here that I find myself agreeing with my colleagues from the CLC."
The Liberal Chair of the committee, Derek Lee, (Scarborough - Rouge River) then launched a vicious attack on the ruling in the CPC case, stating that his government "[doesn't] accept at all that any judge has the ability to legislate out there." Lee denounced Justice Molloy for having "the temerity to go beyond her mandate and dare to legislate the definition of what a political party would be. That wasn't her job. She was out of line. I simply invite her to get out of town and get back to doing her job."
But this outburst failed to stifle criticism. During the Dec. 7 Commons debate on C-2, NDP member John Solomon strongly supported an amendment to reduce the threshold to 12 candidates, because "it includes more options, more choices for Canadians with respect to political parties, [and] meets the cornerstones of inclusivity and accessibility. It is a very responsible approach to the problem raised by many witnesses, in particular the Communist Party of Canada, as well as other organizations. New Democrats were very strong on making this amendment and we are hoping the government will support this aspect of the bill."
Several Reform MPs also attacked the 50-candidate rule. Rob Anders (Calgary West) pointed out that in countries with proportional representation, voters enjoy a wide choice. "They can choose from anywhere up to 35 parties on the ballot. That is democracy. Voters should be able to make those determinations, but the Liberal government is fearful of that so it wants to restrict the number of people appearing on ballots."
Other opposition amendments include one from the Bloc Québecois, to limit corporate donations to parties to $5,000, and open up party financing to "complete transparency" in order to curtail influence-peddling by business interests.
There is also a growing demand for some sort of proportional representation (PR), or a mixture of PR with the constituency-based, "first-past-the post" system. The popular demand by the Communists, Greens and other smaller parties for a complete public review and restructuring of the electoral system is also gaining increased support among the parliamentary parties.
C-2 is scheduled for second and third reading when the House resumes in early February. If enough public pressure can be mounted, it may still be possible to force the Liberals to agree to substantial amendments before the legislation is approved.
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