Voter I.D.s irk ethnic Quebecers

>> He is a grown man in green and yellow tights.

by George Maddux

Fo Niemi has a bone to pick over what he feels is Quebec's insensitive handling of ethnic voters. The director of the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations is lobbying against a PQ government proposal to create either a mandatory voter I.D. card or a voluntary universal identification card.

The result of this proliferation of plastic will be that some immigrants will be discouraged from voting, says Amarkai Laryea, a CRARR official who wrote a policy paper on the subject. "To get a card, those not born in Canada will have to get on a list and those born in countries that use neither English or French will have to get their papers translated at their own cost." Laryea also questions the proposed inclusion of the individual's country of birth on the card.

But Robert Perreault, PQ Minister for Citizen Relations and Immigration, is still expected to push hard for the card in the upcoming session of the National Assembly. Niemi hopes he pushes it right off the agenda. "We have to ensure that voter verification is not the same as voter intimidation."

Meanwhile CRARR is cooking up a court challenge to the existing law that bars new immigrants from working in electoral jobs and forbids them from making political donations. "We plan to argue that it's a violation of freedom of expression and individual rights," he says.

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