The parliamentary committee responsible for the rules and procedures of the House of Commons (PROC) has been busy weighing options for the Green Chamber’s return in September. The Commons has been getting by since mid-March with a reduced number of in-person sittings with a small number of MPs in attendance.
The committee tabled a report on July 21st, exactly two months before the Commons is set to resume regular fall sittings which would normally include everything from daily question period to opposition day motions and private members’ business. Instead, the committee recommended a hybrid model for sittings, including a controversial electronic voting system. It would require “an iterative approach with multiple rounds of testing, demonstrations and adaptations” prior to implementation – but that hasn’t stopped the concept of e-voting from being a lighting rod for debate.
The Liberal government is in favour of testing an electronic voting system to allow MPs to vote from home. The Official Opposition’s position is “the House of Commons must—and can—conduct its business in person.” The Official Opposition wants to return to regular sittings with a maximum number of 86 MPs, plus the Speaker, in the chamber at a time.
It does not appear that the government and opposition will come to an agreement on electronic voting in hybrid sittings, so whatever is going to happen, will not happen quickly. Without consensus between parties, any change to the standing orders would have to be debated and voted on in the Commons, with a low chance of success given stated concerns from the opposition.
The disagreement on electronic voting amounts to matters of both practicality and long-term implications. The opposition has raised issues around connectivity for voting, or interjecting for matters of privilege as logistical barriers for e-voting. They’re also alleging the government is using the COVID crisis to push a long existing e-voting agenda. Indeed, it is not the first time this has been considered: the McGrath Committee recommended electronic voting in 1985, as did a special committee in 2003. Bardish Chagger picked up on that thread when she was House Leader, recommending it again in a 2017 discussion paper. The Liberal party also promised in the 2019 election campaign to introduce new technology and other institutional changes that would allow MPs to better connect with their constituents.
Moving toward an electronic voting system could not only have significant impacts on the way our federal democracy works, but also on the way public policy is influenced. What is the fallout for the way our federal elected officials will carry out their duties? How could electronic voting impact long term operations on the Hill including stakeholder relations, political journalism, meetings with MPs, the role of the Senate, constituency engagement, and any number of other common assumptions of parliamentarians, journalists and business leaders in Ottawa. Those are the questions stakeholders should begin asking themselves as they look towards developing advocacy plans for a Fall that may be anything but usual business in Ottawa.
If the Commons moves forward with electronic voting, it’s hard to know whether or not we would reverse course. That could mean a lasting shakeup to the conventions on which public affairs and government relations professionals rely.