Procedure and House Affairs Committee on June 15th, 2006

[A voice]

Date of birth or year of birth?

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

No, date of birth. I heard date of birth, on the list only, not on the voter information card.

All right, under recommendation 2.8, “Retention of Statutorily Authorized Personal Identifiers for Later Use”:

Section 46 of the Canada Elections Act authorizes the Chief Electoral Officer to draw upon various sources of information to update the National Register of Electors, including: information that electors have provided to him, information held by government departments where the elector consents to the release of that information, and information collected pursuant to provincial statutes listed in Schedule II of the Act, provided the elector consents to the release of that information. Not all of the information from these sources may be incorporated into the National Register of Electors. Information such as a driver’s licence number and vital statistics, for example, may not be used. The Chief Electoral Officer seeks an amendment to permit him to incorporate such information in the National Register of Electors.

We did speak to the Chief Electoral Officer. It seems the Privacy Commissioner would have some issues with all of this information, but of course our commitment is to increase the accuracy of the list.

[An hon. member]

She didn't.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

I know she didn't, but I'm sure she would have.

Are there any comments?

Monsieur Proulx.

[Marcel Proulx, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

I was going to say, Mr. Chair, she certainly didn't appear to be somebody who minded yesterday when we asked her. I think she was very open, for election purposes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

For election purposes, correct.

Ms. Redman.

[Karen Redman, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

I think we have to be very careful about collecting people's data. The way I read this--and just work with me here--it says things like a driver’s licence number and vital statistics, for example, may not be used.

Well, I don't see any movement to using the driver's licence as an identifier. I think we've moved to the date of birth.

I am very much in support of StatsCan supplying that kind of information for the purpose of the database for electors only, but does this open us up to social insurance numbers being somehow merged in some data bank, anywhere, whether we get it at the polling stations or not?

I think you have to put some parameters around this, so I'd like to know exactly what this means. It seems like a no-brainer as to how to update the electoral list, but I don't want to throw this wide open so that now, all of a sudden, when I get a driver's licence, that becomes part of the data bank, or you're accessing the social insurance number, or anything like that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

It's very open-ended, isn't it?

[Karen Redman, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

It's too open-ended, I think.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

I will refer the committee to the next point we're going to discuss, which is 2.11, “Stable, Unique Identifiers for Electors”.

Are there any further comments on this issue?

Mr. Proulx.

[Marcel Proulx, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Chair, I think the CEO is telling us that for all kinds of different reasons that we obviously don't necessarily understand....

Yesterday the commissioner was saying, no, it doesn't apply that way. But anyway, he keeps telling us that he has all kinds of restrictions.

If recommendation 2.8--and Jamie can answer me on this--is to remove all the potential or the presumably existing restrictions in the eyes of the CEO, let's tell him that he can waive them and go ahead with it.

I think there are two things: there's one of gathering the information and one of giving out the information. I don't see anywhere in this that he's asking us permission to give out this information.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Elsewhere he talked about giving it out for emergency purposes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Yes, in recommendation 2.9.

[James Robertson]

On this particular recommendation, he specifically says:

Elections Canada would not be authorized to disclose this corollary information except to the elector (when requested by the elector under section 54 of the Act) or to the original source of the data.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

It's agreed?

Mrs. Redman.

[Karen Redman, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Maybe I'm the small “yeah, but” here. I think this is way too broad-based. I mean, I'm all for defining what we.... I see no reason for Elections Canada to have my social insurance number or my driver's licence. Somebody walk me through this, if there's a reason why that should be retained by Elections Canada.

To me, that's what the illustration is here that's specifically used, and I don't see why they should have that information.

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Maybe I can help. The answer that Mr. Kingsley gave was that it's another database he can verify against.

If indeed you move, and there ends up being two Karen Redmans at another address, or two different addresses, he could check through the driver's licence number that you are the one he's looking for, under the latest database.

So he's using other people's databases as a way of qualifying that, ah, you did move. You didn't tell Elections Canada, but you told the motor vehicle people.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Mr. Reid.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

You have a situation where we're putting in people's date of birth. So we're going to know it's the Karen Redman born on July 30, 1970, as opposed to any other—do you see what I mean?

[A voice]

One is on a voters' list.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

How many Karen Redmans in different...?

[A voice]

You meant born in 1980, right?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Order. Order. I'm trying to be as nice as I can here.

Madame Picard.

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

In answer to Ms. Redman I would state that, in any event, the Chief Electoral Officer already uses driver's licences. In Quebec, he uses the automobile insurance registry of Quebec for information purposes. There is therefore nothing new here.