Procedure and House Affairs committee  That's a political choice that was made at the time. We were well aware of the difficulty it might have caused. Some people who lived in Quebec could not vote because they had not resided in Quebec for six months. One of the requirements of the Quebec act is that a person must have been domiciled in Quebec for at least six months before an electoral or referendum event is held.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That's right. The rules for writing it are decided by the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec. Fairness in the presentation of each of the two camps has to be ensured. I have an example here. I don't know whether you want me to file it with the clerk. You can have a look at it.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It is worth considering. It is a way of informing the debate.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm glad you have asked the question and I hope I will have an opportunity to answer it for the parliamentarians in the National Assembly as well. The Referendum Act contains an appendix that sets out the provisions of the Election Act that have to be changed for holding a referendum.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It depends on the subjects. For some subjects it seems to me that there should not be a referendum at the same time as an election. Others, which I might describe as lighter, could be the subject of a referendum question on the occasion of an election. It depends on the subjects, but there is also the problem of financing.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure to appear before this committee to tell you about the Quebec experience with referendums. Before beginning, I would like to remind you that the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec is responsible for the holding of elections and referendums in Quebec and also supervises and offers advice to municipal and school electoral officers.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Unfortunately, we don't have any figures on that. Of course, there are homeless people in Montreal, but probably far fewer than out West, probably because of the weather.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Well, as I said earlier, people are not allowed to vote anywhere but the place where they're on the list. Every polling station identifies the electors that are on its list and an elector cannot be registered at the next polling station.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  In that case, you would have to set strict rules to ensure that electors cannot register at two different tables.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The fact is it is still difficult for the homeless to vote. You have to have an address in a particular riding and you have to be attached to a particular polling station. We generally use the shelters where they go to sleep or eat. That is where people can go to register. The Quebec Act has another particularity which you may know about: you have to have your name on the electoral list in order to vote.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  July 1 is indeed a very important date for most people living in Quebec. It's a date when a lot of people move, and people in Quebec move a lot; apparently Montreal is a world champion in that regard. We receive address changes in the weeks that follow and, by mid-September, we have received most of them.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'd say late September is probably a better bet, but by mid-September, we have in fact already received a great many of those address changes. Under the legislation, within 30 days of moving, people are required to advise various organizations of their change of address, and especially so that the new address can be reflected on their driver's licence.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, between 75% and 80%. Now I'm saying that without having the actual figures in front of me, but I believe, based on information that I request regularly on this, that is about the proportion. So, there would still be quite a few changes to make during the revision period if the election were to be held too early in September.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Well, we would have to see how that would work, but we would not want to do anything that could result in the voting process running less smoothly. Would asking the poll clerk to fill out the cards have that effect? Well, we have no experience with that. We believe that two such officers is too many; a single person appears to us to be an appropriate option.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Once again, that is the result of the way things have evolved historically. As you may recall, these individuals were initially representing the political parties and, strangely enough, they were paid by the Chief Electoral Officer. That was exactly what was challenged, and rightly so, in my opinion.