Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, the remarks were really meant to elicit the kind of question that has been raised, because I was following the transcript from previous appearances by others in front of this committee. The word of caution I was trying to sound is that others have attempted and othe

Foreign Affairs committee  I make it a point whenever I go into another country to meet ministers, prime ministers, or presidents, and the other parties that are there, to make that point very clear to all of them. This is one of the strengths of what we do, actually. It's well appreciated by the media as

Foreign Affairs committee  As a matter of fact, my remarks were meant to indicate that I don't think we should hesitate to go it alone, effectively, despite the fact that there are risks. I can only relate to the people whom we're trying to help, and we shouldn't hesitate. Obviously, it's nice, and in so

Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, the efforts that we deploy are made through the electoral body that is there, in light of its mandate to educate the public about the electoral process. That's something that we do in Canada through our outreach programs and our different advertising for an election

Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, in elaborating on my remarks, Elections Canada I think has an opportunity to make a real contribution to the process. I'll use a relatively concrete example. The Nigerian electoral commission came here recently. They were interested in knowing how they can make an e

Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, first I want to express my gratitude for the flattering comments made about us. What is expressed involuntarily is often what betrays a depth of thinking. There is indeed a wish that I would like to state, and that is that Canada's policy and efforts regarding democra

Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, with your permission, I'll answer that. We've obtained funding enabling us to send Canadian experts to Haiti to work closely with Mr. Bernard and the provisional electoral council. There's going to be a twinning with Haitians who are qualified in the area, but who are

Foreign Affairs committee  Of course, it causes difficulty in a developing country, but eliminating or overcoming that kind of difficulty is one of the challenges that the electoral council must try to meet through voter information campaigns. Our expertise is less specific to that area, but we can nevert

Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, Elections Canada, as a rule, does not work at the local level. Our expertise, our strength, does not lie there. Our strength lies in working at the national level of elections. This is why bodies invite us; this is why other countries invite us. They want to know ho

Foreign Affairs committee  The local elections are being run nationally, and that's why we're there. All the elections are taking place, and they're being run by the Conseil Électoral Provisoire, which ran the national elections for the president and the runoff for the second round for the legislative asse

Foreign Affairs committee  I would like to add, very briefly, though, that as part of what we do, we also provide advice on how the national body should inform the local population or the population in general, even if it's local--all population is local, effectively--through outreach programs and through

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'd like to thank the member of Parliament for the laudatory remarks about our work on the international scene. This is much appreciated. And he is right about the fact that this is a niche area for Canada. We are well known for that around the world.

Foreign Affairs committee  Today I will discuss the work of Elections Canada in promoting democratic development internationally, the value-added that we bring—at least in our view—to Canadian efforts in this sphere, and the ways in which our collective efforts can be maximized. Elections Canada has long

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I really appreciate this opportunity. The gentleman who appeared with me was the chief executive officer or executive director of the electoral commission of Haiti, Jacques Bernard. In terms of byelections, we have two going on in this countr

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, I would like to answer that question. I will provide you with a written answer. The work has begun but I can't...