Procedure and House Affairs committee  Since May 2000.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I was preceded by a number of individuals who held the position on an acting basis, including Jacques Girard. Four or five people held the position on an acting basis between the time Mr. Côté left, in 1997, and 2000. One of those individuals has been given a seven-year mandate.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  We are already saving money because, at the time, these officers, who represented the different political parties, were also in attendance for the advance polls, the inmate voting and at the mobile polling stations. Now, however, they are used only when the regular voting process is underway.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would say no, simply because, as I was mentioning earlier, the political parties have to recommend people to us. They have up to 14 days before election day to make those recommendations. However, every time there has been an election, either the 2003 General Election or the by-elections that have been held since, I have had to make special arrangements, because we didn't have enough people to fill the positions.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Perhaps I should again give you some background as to how all of this began. Initially, these individuals were designated by the two political parties that had received the most votes in the previous election. So, there have always been two people. They were paid by the Chief Electoral Officer, but worked only for their own party.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, exactly. Those individuals were made employees of the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, reporting directly to the CEO.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Mr. Proulx and Mr. Chairman, in the documentation I provided to the Clerk, there is a copy of the forms that are used, that are referred to as bingo cards. Several copies of these cards are given to the electoral list officers. They can be given up to three of these forms, which include carbon copies.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, absolutely.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It's part of the whole mechanics of preparing an election. The additional costs relate to the training that has to be provided to these individuals — the training lasts one or two hours, or the time it takes to explain to them what they have to do. It really isn't complicated. So, from that point on, there are costs associated with training the officers.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank, Mr. Chairman. Ladies and gentlemen, members of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, I was very pleased to accept your invitation to come and talk about Quebec's experience with compiling data on electors who voted at polling stations. To begin with, I would just like to say that important changes in that regard were introduced in Quebec in 2001.