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Special Committee on Electoral Reform ERRE Ï NUMBER 030 Ï 1st SESSION Ï 42nd PARLIAMENT EVIDENCE Monday, September 26, 2016 Chair Mr. Francis Scarpaleggia 1 Special Committee on Electoral Reform Monday, September 26, 2016 Ï (1340) Ten minutes is short, so I'll jump right into it. I will not spend time [English] on the various models that you are considering; you have had and will have many informed experts speaking about these. My general The Chair (Mr. Francis Scarpaleggia (Lac-Saint-Louis, Lib.)): thought, however, is that a different model that more exactly aligns Good afternoon. popular vote with representation in the House of Commons is On behalf of all the members of the committee and the staff, I'd laudable, and should be what guides you as you wade through the like to say how wonderful it is to be in Whitehorse. People have been plethora of options that will be before you. so friendly and warm, and it's such a lovely setting. It's a great opportunity for us to learn more about how people in the territory What I wish to speak to this afternoon relates largely to three of feel and what they think about electoral reform. the principles you have been asked to explore in your mandate It's our thirtieth meeting. We held hearings in Ottawa during the statement, specifically, principle two on engagement, principle three summer and now we are travelling for three weeks. This is the first on accessibility, and principle five on local representation. I am day of hearings in our second week of travel. Tomorrow we're off to coming at these three areas with a northern bias that I hope you will Victoria. consider as you address the broad interests and issues of this large and complex nation of ours. I'll give you an overview of how we've been proceeding. Each witness will be afforded 10 minutes to present. We're a bit tight for Relating to principle two on engagement, I will highlight that, time in this panel, so if you can do eight or nine minutes, you among other things, you are to encourage participation, enhance certainly get brownie points from the chair, let's put it that way. But social cohesion, and offer opportunities for inclusion of under- you do have a full 10 minutes. At 10 minutes we have to stop the represented groups in the political process. With respect to this presentation, but it doesn't mean you won't have an opportunity to principle, I would suggest you consider the following. express your viewpoint during the question and answer period. After the presentations we have a question and answer period In our Canada of today, we have set as a very high priority where each member of the committee is allotted five minutes to working to find a path of reconciliation with the first peoples of this engage with the witnesses. The five minutes include answers. country—first nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples. One avenue that is Sometimes only 30 seconds are left for an MP in that five-minute open to you to contribute to this reconciliation is to consider some segment. form of guaranteed representation in the House of Commons for aboriginal peoples. I do not know if New Zealand's chief electoral I would suggest to the members that if you're at that stage, you officer spoke to this unique aspect of the New Zealand parliamentary might want to use the remaining 30 seconds for a statement or a very system, but they have had guaranteed seats for the Maori dating rapid-fire question, because before you know it we'll be over the back, interestingly enough, to 1867. Today there are seven Maori five-minute mark. seats in its House of Representatives, which is determined through a To the witnesses, if we are at the five-minute mark and there's no mixed member proportional system. There are two rolls, one for time to answer, please don't worry. You'll have an opportunity the Maori voting. Maori can choose whether they wish to vote on a next time you have the mike to answer the previous question, if you general or on a specific Maori roll. wish. We're pretty flexible that way, but we do have to keep to some strict rules about time limits. I'm not suggesting this particular model. It's only to say that this is We have three witnesses with us this afternoon. Appearing as an example of where a parliamentary system has embraced a unique individuals we have Mr. Kirk Cameron and Mr. Peter Becker. Then approach so that a first people—in the New Zealand case, the Maori appearing on behalf of the Green Party of Canada, Yukon section, —can, quote, see themselves represented directly in the system. we have Mr. Gerald Haase. I am reminded of Jean-Pierre Kingsley's presentation to you. The We'll start with Mr. Cameron for 10 minutes, please. fifth point that he asked you to consider is that the “Canadian reality Mr. Kirk Cameron (As an Individual): Thank you, committee must be reflected in the system of representation.” As well, chair and members. Welcome to Yukon. It is indeed a pleasure to “Canadians must be able to see themselves in their representatives appear before you on this important national matter. and in the system by which they choose them.” 2 ERRE-30 September 26, 2016 I believe there is no better way to achieve this than by your reflecting on the interests of a subnational jurisdiction in Canada, committee actively engaging with aboriginal representative groups that being Yukon. such as the Assembly of First Nations, and Inuit and Métis organizations, among others, to determine if there is an avenue forward that would achieve this principle for the aboriginal peoples Our democratic journey has been inconsistent, to say the least. In of our country. I do not know if you have hearings set with these the late 1890s, the population of the territory jumped to over 40,000 groups, but if not, I would suggest that you reach out to them. due to gold seekers in the Klondike. Between 1898 and 1908, Yukon’s legislature, at that time referred to as the Yukon Council, I note there is aboriginal interest in reform at the parliamentary grew to a body of eight representatives. This was a wholly elected level that would build linkages between our aboriginal citizenry and assembly, in keeping with the evolutionary track most provinces Parliament. You may be aware that in 1996 the Royal Commission followed throughout their histories. Due to a massive drop in on Aboriginal Peoples recommended that a house of first peoples be population combined with extreme fiscal pressures on Canada established as a third chamber of Parliament. The details on its role during World War I, this, quote, normal evolution of representative and responsibilities are set out in the commission's report. In brief, it government in the Yukon took a nasty turn. is recommending a chamber with legislative responsibility over bills that have substantive impact over Canada's aboriginal peoples. In 1918 Yukon’s Constitution, otherwise known as the Yukon Act, In addition, in its 1996 Four-Ten Declaration of Dedication and federal legislation, was amended to give authority to the Governor in Commitment, the Land Claims Agreements Coalition, a body Council to abolish the elected council and turn legislating authority representing all aboriginal groups with modern land claims to an appointed body. Although this did not happen, given agreements in Canada, called for the creation of an independent considerable pressure from Yukoners, the Yukon Council was implementation and review body, perhaps similar to the Office of the reduced in number from ten to three. This rump stayed in place until Auditor General, reporting directly to Parliament on progress of land 1951, when the number of council members increased to five, and claims implementation matters that relate to today's modern treaties. today we find ourselves with nineteen. This proposal is not about the electoral process, per se, but I use this example, along with the RCAP proposal, to underscore that the In the intervening years there was another event that threatened aboriginal first peoples see Parliament as a fundamentally important the very existence of Yukon as a distinct subnational entity in institution relating to their relationship in Canada. In short, I would Canada. In 1937 a deal was announced between British Columbia’s suggest you consider how electoral reform might assist in our Premier Duff Pattullo and Canada for the annexation of Yukon to reconciliation journey in Canada. British Columbia. Only thanks to a particularly thorny political issue around Catholic schools did this deal not go through. We were very Principle three on accessibility and inclusiveness calls for change close to becoming just another northern region in the province of that would support access by all eligible voters. This takes one British Columbia. immediately to the consideration of online voting. Indeed, in the first paragraph of the committee's mandate, online voting is expressly noted as a matter for the committee to consider. I wish to bring to the This is important to note because Yukon’s political rights journey committee's attention that there are many communities throughout has been turbulent, to say the least. We do not want this current the north that do not have reliable communications infrastructure that process on electoral reform to take away any of the advancements would reliably support this voting option. that we’ve fought for over these many years.