Most Canadians don’t understand the Tories’ Fair Elections Act: poll

If you've been watching Question Period in the House of Commons or any of the political talk shows out of Ottawa, you might think that the Fair Elections Act (Bill C-23) is the biggest issue facing the country since the NAFTA.

Interestingly, according to a new Angus Reid survey, most Canadians aren't even familiar with the proposed Conservative government legislation that would overhaul our federal election rules.

The survey, released Friday, notes that only 20 per cent of Canadians are "very" or "fairly" familiar with the bill introduced earlier this month. Conversely, 42 per cent of those surveyed said that they were "not very familiar but heard of it" while 38 per cent hadn't heard about the bill at all.

Of those familiar with the bill, 56 per cent oppose it and 44 per cent support it.

[ Related: Conservatives to take electoral reform act hearings on the road ]

The Fair Elections Act will, among other things, raise the limits on political donations, impose tougher penalties on those who break election rules, separate the administration of elections from the enforcement of election law, reduce Elections Canada's public information activities and eliminate 'vouching' for voters who lack proper identification at the ballot box.

The last two measures have generated intense criticism from the opposition parties and even Canada's Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand, who has called it an affront to democracy.

The NDP has launched a petition against C-23 suggesting that it, in its current form, will lead to voter suppression.

"The Conservatives have repeatedly broken Canada’s election laws. To avoid accountability, they introduced Bill C-23 – a blatant scheme to reduce the Chief Electoral Officer’s powers and make voting more difficult for hundreds of thousands of Canadians," they said in a recent statement.

"New Democrats believe that when a core part of our democracy like the Canada Elections Act is being changed, Canadians must be consulted. We fought the Conservatives’ affront to Canada’s democracy and dedicated an opposition day motion to compel them to hold cross-country hearings on this bill."

[ More Politics: Canadians at odds over state of conservatism in Canada ]

CBC's Rick Mercer even weighed-in on the issue during his most recent rant.

But for whatever reason, it seems Canadians aren't paying attention.

(Photo courtesy of the Canadian Press)

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