Even as various ministers, committees and MPs have been criss-crossing the country, surveying citizens on the pros and cons of changing the way we elect our MPs, outgoing chief electoral officer Marc Mayrand has been quietly putting together his own list of suggested fixes and enhancements to the current voting regime. The resulting report –“An Electoral Framework for the 21st Century: Recommendations from the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada Following the 42nd General Election,” to use its full title – was tabled in the House on Tuesday, and given Mayrand’s stated intention of stepping down at the end of the year, it could well turn out to be his final dispatch from the front-lines of our federal democracy. Re-empower the chief electoral officer to launch public outreach and education programs, including those that specifically target “persons and groups most likely to experience difficulties in exercising their democratic rights,” as well as groups with a lower rate of voter registration than the general population. Set a maximum length for an election period – the CEO suggests “45 or 50 days, for example,” and “consider” adding a new provision specifying that the writ be issued on September 1. Read more on electoral reform on the Ottawa Citizen.

Source: National Post September 27, 2016 16:18 UTC