With an election likely only weeks away, MPs are reporting "nightmare" problems with the Elections Canada permanent voters list and have asked for an urgent meeting with Chief Electoral Officer Jean-Pierre Kingsley to try to fix the mess before it is too late. New Brunswick MP Yvon Godin said yesterday he recently mailed 3,000 newsletters to constituents based on their addresses listed on the registry and half were returned by Canada Post because the addresses were incorrect. Mr. Godin, who said other MPs have reported similar problems, has asked Liberal MP Peter Adams, chairman of the procedure and House affairs committee to summon Mr. Kingsley and Anne Joynt, acting head of Canada Post, to a committee meeting for an explanation. "We're almost at an election and the addresses are all wrong," said Mr. Godin. "It's certainly not working in my riding; I've got 1,500 (newsletters) in a box to show to Elections Canada and ask them 'how do you deal with this?" Prime Minister Paul Martin is widely expected to call a vote for mid- to late-June. Edmonton Conservative MP John Williams also aired complaints about the voters list, saying his staff has found he will not be allowed to send a final MP's newsletter, called householders in the Commons, to his new riding under redistribution until after Parliament is dissolved. "If my householder is delivered, it's delivered to my old constituency," said Mr. Williams. "What point is that?" Winnipeg NDP MP Pat Martin said he has also had hundreds of newsletters to his constituents returned because of problems with the permanent voters list. "It's horribly inadequate," said Mr. Martin. "We're getting tons of complaints. I mail out 5,000 and I get 1,000 back." Mr. Martin and Mr. Williams said Canada should return to the enumeration system that the permanent registry replaced for the first time in the last federal election in 2000. "This has been an abject failure," said Mr. Martin. "It was complete folly to even think that you can cobble it together from all these other sources and have a manageable list." Mr. Martin added he is also getting calls from "little old ladies who used to earn pin money" enumerating voters door-to-door and are now asking where they can sign up for the job this time. The first experience with the permanent registry led to widespread problems in 2000, when only 61 per cent of registered voters cast ballots, the lowest turnout in Canadian history. Some critics blamed the low turnout on the decision to abandon the enumeration system and problems with the registry, especially among low-income voters and young people. Mr. Kingsley has assured the Commons that most of the problems have been fixed. Elections Canada was unable to comment yesterday.
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