The London Free Press

Thousands are being contacted to verify Canadian citizenship.

Cities scramble to confirm voters
Susan Kirwin

August 25, 2006

Cities across the London region are trying to figure out who can vote and who can't in November civic elections after a Crown corporation couldn't confirm the citizenship of thousands of people.

St. Thomas, Sarnia and Chatham-Kent officials are mailing thousands to figure out who's a Canadian and who's not for the voters' lists.

Ontario's Municipal Property Assessment Corp. is required to identify eligible voters for civic elections.

MPAC is also responsible for preparing the initial list of electors. The civic clerk updates and revises the list before voting day.

In the past, those who couldn't be confirmed as Canadian were kept on the list.

But this year, MPAC left those people off after municipalities complained of increasing problems with ineligible voters, said Elinor Mifflin, city clerk for Chatham-Kent.

Nearly 5,500 people were listed as unconfirmed in Chatham-Kent, or about 6.5 per cent of voters, said Mifflin.

Another 2,600 people, or about 10 per cent of elgible voters, were unconfirmed in St. Thomas.

St. Thomas Mayor Jeff Kohler said he's never seen an election problem of this magnitude. "It's an inconvenience for us, but we want to make sure election day is seamless," he said.

More than 4,600 people didn't confirm their citizenship in Sarnia, almost eight per cent of voters.

Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley is fed up with MPAC and said they shouldn't be paid.

"I call them the Monty Python Assessment Corp.," he said.

Bradley said he'd like to see private companies bid for the job because MPAC's integrity has come into question.

"We are paying them to reward incompetence."

Lambton County pays MPAC $1.6 million for its services every year, but Bradley wants that money back.

"It creates concern of the validity of who gets to vote. We could see legal challenges where the race is close."

People will be asked to sign a declaration of their age and citizenship. Sarnia city clerk Brad Loosley said people lying about their status is a concern, but signing an official declaration is the best that can be done for "due diligence."

Mifflin said MPAC has few options when people don't provide information. "There's no legislation to force people to provide information," like with a census, he said.

Mifflin said problems with ineligible voters prompted the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario and some municipalities, to ask MPAC to indicate who hadn't confirmed their Canadian citizenship.

Eligible voters can declare their citizenship on enumeration forms sent in election years, on tax returns and on surveys sent when someone moves, MPAC says.