Canada Elections Act  To be sure, the current situation does not reflect the wish of the Lortie commission, a wish that was echoed by the chief electoral officer himself, Jean-Pierre Kingsley, who told the committee, on October 28: Obviously when I go out on the international scene I do not recommend that the Canadian system be emulated where it comes to the appointment of returning officers.

Division No. 690  It is important to mention that this convention was passed in 1989 by cabinet only. Indeed the document that has inspired this exercise in democracy, as Mr. Kingsley called it, has never been subjected to the scrutiny of the Canadian adult democracy. Opponents of the convention have long claimed that the wording of the document is anti-family. I have also come to believe that this is one of the reasons the Canadian parliament has yet to debate the matter and why the United States has failed to ratify the convention to this day.

The Budget  To end the week on Sunday, I joined Senator Landon Pearson and a young lady by the name of Cherry Kingsley at an international conference on the sexual exploitation of children. Under the tutelage of Senator Landon Pearson and others, Miss Cherry Kingsley, who is a young aboriginal person originally from Alkali Lake has taken the leadership.

Canada Elections Act  Mr. Kingsley was quoted as saying that he had convinced the government to reduce the campaign from 47 to 36 days. Who convinced whom? These questions will be asked at the appropriate time. But the October 3 news report implied that the government was far from being convinced that a permanent electoral list could be implemented in time for the next election.

Canada Elections Act  Speaker, subsequent to the Chief Electoral Officer's appearance before the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, Mr. Kingsley spoke of his displeasure at seeing this bill retain governmental appointment of returning officers. My question is for the leader of the Government in the House. How can the minister explain his double-speak, saying on the one hand that the purpose of his bill is equity and transparency, while on the other hand maintaining government control over the appointment of the main officials involved?

Canada Elections Act  Those recommendations brought about the striking of a special House committee which in turn produced five separate reports to the House of Commons. More recently, Canada's chief electoral officer, Jean Pierre Kingsley, submitted his own report following the 1997 election. This towering mass of work bears witness to the interest parliamentarians take in electoral reform. This new bill marks its culmination.

Canada Elections Act  Radio-Canada's 11 o'clock evening news confirmed that Mrs. Rossier had been right on the mark, because her interview with Mr. Kingsley and with the Leader of the Government in the House made it clear that a bill was in the offing. Subsequently, the bill was tabled here in the House, for referral to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs before second reading.

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Suspension Act, 1994  Mr. Kingsley: The answer is no. Mr. Hermanson: Are you aware of any meetings having been held improperly, say, without a quorum or something like that? Mr. Kingsley: I am advised the answer to that question is no.

Canada Elections Act  It is used routinely to put measures through the House when good planning could have obviated the necessity. Mr. Kingsley, the chief electoral officer, brought forward this report back in March. It has been available to the House for months and months. Instead, it is dealing with the legislation at the 11th hour.

Canada Elections Act  There is no denying that administratively that information could be useful. However, I am satisfied from the testimony of Mr. Kingsley of Elections Canada and others, as well as the privacy commissioner, Mr. Phillips, that it is not necessary. It is not essential. Our electoral system is based on honesty and the freedom to vote.

Administrative Tribunals (Remedial And Disciplinary Measures) Act  I do not put forward names for appointments to Elections Canada. As a matter of fact, when Mr. Kingsley was before the procedure and House affairs committee I asked him a question. We give advice to countries around the world on how to run fair elections. I asked Mr. Kingsley: "When we go to other countries to help them run their election campaigns, for example, do we tell them that the government should appoint all of the returning officers or should it be a neutral process?"

Hepatitis C  Hepatitis C victims are ordinary people, people like Jean Drapeau of Laval, Quebec; Steve Kemp of Toronto, Ontario; Mike McCarthy of Sebringville, Ontario; Kim Kingsley of Goderich, Ontario; Neil Van Dusen of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia; Jeremy Beaty of Mississauga, Ontario; Abraham Weizfeldt of Montreal, Quebec; Charles Duguay of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario; Derek Marchand of Tottenham, Ontario; Sherry Fitger of Calgary, Alberta and her husband Don Fitger of Calgary, Alberta; William Harrison of Edmonton, Alberta.

Canadian Wheat Board Act  The government wants to make the rules. I do not think it will call on an outside firm as they do for the 6/49 draws or ask Mr. Kingsley, the chief electoral officer. That being said, in spite an apparent willingness to make changes, the federal government wants to maintain its control over the Canadian Wheat Board with this bill.

Canada Elections Act  We talk about things like the process we have come through to get to this stage today, where we are talking about an elections act that should have been brought about with consensus building and co-operation of all parties, opposition and government side, and by taking ample time to consult Canadians. Instead we find a government that has had Mr. Kingsley's report since April and instead of bringing it to Parliament or bringing it to committee we find it is invoking time allocation so that we are not allowed to debate it. Not only that, but it is being pushed through with such haste that today the government is back again asking for unanimous consent to amend what we passed yesterday because there is not enough time to get it into the regular process for the amendments to even be debated in the House.

Canada Elections Act  I was able to follow closely the proceedings of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, to hear the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, Mr. Kingsley, and the Human Rights Commissioner, Mr. Wilson. I listened very carefully, as I always do. I almost swallowed my birth certificate when I saw how fast the clause by clause study of the bill went.