I don't think there would be a conflict between Thanksgiving and the date of the federal election, since Thanksgiving is the second Monday in October.
Getting back to the first part of your question, we looked at the different seasons and the different months in which an election could be held. We used a process of elimination. There were valid reasons why we might not want to have it in winter or the summer, so that leaves you with the spring and the fall. There is the estimates process, during which estimates are tabled in the House of Commons, and there is the studying and the budgetary process of the Government of Canada. It seemed to suggest that the fall would be a better time.
That being said, the department considered all reasons that this might not be a good date in terms of various religious or cultural feast days, or holidays, or days of recognition. It seemed to me that this one in particular would work. I have indicated to you that there is some flexibility. If some time in the future there is some reason why that Monday wouldn't be perfect, the Chief Electoral Officer could recommend that it be moved to the Tuesday or to the following week.
That being said, because of the provisions of the act, the advance poll would take place approximately one week before that, which would mean at Thanksgiving. Quite frankly, I can't think of a better time to find Canadians at home if they have to vote in the advance poll. If they're not going to be home on election day, it's probably highly likely that in fact they might be there on the Thanksgiving weekend. Our job is to facilitate Canadians' voting, which they have a right to do, and to make it as accessible and easy as possible. So I think having an advance poll would work, and I think that was one of the other advantages of this piece of legislation.
We wouldn't want to go any further into the year, in case the suggestion to do so is made. If we made it one week later, you could have the conflict that you had last year, for instance, with Halloween. We wouldn't want the chaos that might result on Canadian streets, with millions of people going out in their cars, and kids going door to door, and that sort of thing. This date seems to work, and I hope it's the one that Parliament will accept.