OTTAWA—While the Conservative government is signalling it’s open to minor changes to their controversial electoral reform bill, nine amendments put on the table Tuesday did little to diminish critics’ concerns.

A Conservative-led Senate committee published nine suggested changes to the so-called Fair Elections Act on Tuesday. They include one major change — eliminating a loophole allowing parties to spend unlimited amounts to contact previous donors in an election campaign — and a number of minor tweaks and clarifications.

But the most contentious parts of Bill C-23 — eliminating vouching, restricting what the chief electoral officer can tell electors, and disallowing voter information cards as proof of residence — remain largely untouched in the recommendations.

That didn’t sit well with some of the bill’s more vocal critics. NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair said, despite the amendments, he still wants the whole bill pulled and for the government to start from scratch.

“It is a bit of an irony that the only people (Democratic Reform Minister Pierre) Poilievre and (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper seem to be willing to listen to are one, unelected, two, Conservative, and three, saying things that don’t fundamentally deal with the real issues,” Mulcair said Tuesday.

“Mr. Poilievre has communicated that he’s willing to listen to unelected senators, but he’s not listening to elected members of the House of Commons on a bill about democracy.”

The Conservative recommendations were unanimously endorsed by the Senate committee studying the bill, but the Liberals on that committee also issued a dissenting opinion pushing for more fundamental changes.

Sen. George Baker said the Senate Liberals still believe the bill is unconstitutional, arguing it limits Canadians’ fundamental right to vote by removing the vouching safeguard.

“You look at it objectively and a reasonable person would say the fail-safe has been taken away,” Baker said. “Therefore it (has) no force and effect, and the whole thing goes out the window.”

The proposed changes include:

Allowing the chief electoral officer to “inform the public of problems they uncover in the electoral system,” but does not recommend abandoning a provision in C-23 to otherwise limit Elections Canada’s communications.

Allowing Elections Canada to fund Student Vote and other outreach targeted at youth, but not other educational programming. The suggestion essentially means the agency can promote voting to youth, who cannot vote, but not adults, who can.

Explicitly acknowledge the chief electoral officer can communicate with the commissioner of elections, who investigates Election Act breaches. The commissioner would still be split from Elections Canada under the changes.

Require institutions like long-term care facilities or homeless shelters to provide a letter of attestation to prove voters’ identity, and to direct Elections Canada to study the use of electronic correspondence as proof of residence.

Sen. Linda Frum acknowledges the Conservatives aren’t sure how those last two recommendations would work in practice.

“The recommendation was just that Elections Canada might be able to come up with some kind of system as we move deeper into the digital age . . . to find a way to make this possible,” Frum said.

Frum said Conservative senators were also concerned with the proposed loophole that would allow parties to contact previous donors during an election campaign, without counting it as an expense.

“I’ve been asked many times today, isn’t it to the disadvantage of the Conservatives that you’re suggesting the loophole on fundraising be removed. And the answer is yes,” Frum said.

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“(But) that provision in the bill just seemed too ambiguous, difficult to police, too grey.”

It’s not clear how many of the recommendations will be entertained by Poilievre and the Conservatives — even if they do come from their own party. Poilievre has repeatedly said he thinks the bill is good as is, and that he’s prepared to defend the provisions.

In a statement Tuesday, Poilievre’s office wrote the minister will study the recommendations with an “open mind.” He thanked the Senate for their study.