I'm generally aware of the changes in the legislation that provide for the Chief Electoral Officer to appoint returning officers based on merit. I'm not aware of the progress that Elections Canada has made so far. That's one of the top issues that I will have to look into, to see the level of readiness to implement the new provisions of the legislation, to look at some of the timelines on appointing returning officers, and also to look at what are the merit criteria that have been designed so far to select those returning officers. It is something that I will be looking at very early on, should the appointment be confirmed.
On February 20th, 2007. See this statement in context.