Procedure and House Affairs committee  Mr. Kingsley and Mr. Davidson, thank you for accepting our invitation to appear before the committee. I have a few comments and questions. First, the Liberal Party of Canada is also in the process of preparing its list of errors and horror stories.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That's quite a number of questions. Mr. Kingsley, you can start from the top, and I'll certainly allow you a little bit more time. We have about three minutes left on the clock for this round.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  To begin with, I will state that I was aware, and I remember the problems with Edmonton Centre. I will also reassure people that the problems were in Edmonton Centre, and they did not manifest themselves to any extent, as was presented. We were able to purify the lists through special measures that we took.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I share your feelings, Mr. Godin. That is why I said that you had identified a problem. I explained the reason why the problem is as it is. However, I recommended somewhere that we sit down together and examine the matter, to see how we could deal with these specific cases. We must also take into account the fact that the people who are in the hospital do not all come from the same riding.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for coming, Mr. Kingsley and Ms. Davidson. It's good to meet you. I want to make some observations on an election experience that we had in Edmonton Centre in 2006. Some of it took place in 2004 as well. Then I have some questions.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  With regard to resources, I would like to reassure committee members. Elections Canada has what we call statutory authority—in other words, if I need additional resources, I obtain them automatically. It is not to me to determine the resources I need to fulfil the duties of my position.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Elections Canada makes no special effort to track this. If there is abuse, I rely on you the members and the candidates, to report that abuse and to complain to the commissioner. That is how the system has always worked. I have therefore not allocated resources across Canada to check on householder use.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Absolutely. If you forward them to me, I will refer them to the commissioner, since they involve an alleged breach of the legislation. We should bear in mind that it is not an actual breach of the legislation, but rather the possibility that Parliament has subsidized an election campaign, something that is inherently problematic.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Mr. Godin, you have identified a problem that has existed since the act was amended in 1993. The act stipulates that the lists must be revised—and I have no choice in this regard—six days prior to the election. From that point to election day, we cannot do anything. So from that day on, there can be no requests for special ballots.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I continue to write to the Governor in Council every time a returning officer position becomes vacant. The current legislation continues to apply. It is the only legislation that allows me to take action. Moreover, I do not believe that any position has gone beyond the 60-day deadline.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  You are quite right. I take back what I said.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  No, I should be the one to apologize. The deadline was indeed allowed to slide by. I think that it is now up to the Governor in Council to take action. As for myself, I complied with the provisions of the act which stipulate that I must inform the Governor in Council in writing whenever a returning officer position becomes vacant.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Kingsley and Ms. Davidson, I would like to welcome you here today. I have a few questions for you. We had elections in 2006, but we feel as if we are still in 2004, without knowing in what direction we should be going.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I noted down the three or four comments you made concerning the recent election campaign and I already look forward to receiving your list of complains. We are taking this very seriously, just as we did after the last election. I won't answer every question you asked, since you asked me not to.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, Mr. Kingsley and Ms. Davidson. From the outset, I should say that we are currently compiling, once again, a list of the horror stories from the last election campaign. And I am deliberately calling them horror stories rather than mistakes.