Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to thank Mr. Mayrand for being here. He has said enough to make us want to hear more witnesses. He has given us a top-notch explanation of the Canada Elections Act. It was very clear. His entire presentation was extremely clear, but each of us still had a few grey areas. We have asked questions and requested clarification in good faith. Nonetheless, his entire presentation was simply top notch.
The five criteria, contrary to what was said by Mr. Goodyear, who has just learned there are five criteria, were explained to us at the beginning of the presentation, even before we asked questions. Mr. Goodyear, I refer you to the documents containing the presentation that we received. The five criteria are set out there. It is clear for anyone who wants to understand. Those five criteria are based on the Act, that is, that expenses have to be incurred by the official agent. They have to be authorized and paid by the official agent. That is clear. In any event, I understood that when an official agent does not know about an expense, that means that he or she certainly did not authorize it. When there are no documents to prove it, when there is no contract, when there is no invoice from the supplier, and when fair market value was not paid, clearly that does not comply with the Act.
We are talking about paying fair market value, so I would like to remind you that Josée Verner, the minister, paid only $9,300 for an ad she appeared in, while her colleague in the next riding, Sylvie Boucher, who was never seen in the ad, paid $39,000. Clearly there is a difference between what was paid and what it was worth. If I were to pay $39,000 for an ad I did not appear in, I would not be very happy. I am not certain that I would agree to it. I would change official agents.
That being said, the five criteria were explained to us for six hours, maybe one more, and it was very clear. We will see Mr. Mayrand again if necessary.
I would like to make a brief aside regarding Mr. Poilievre's allegations about the differences with the Bloc Québécois. I have explained this several times, but Mr. Poilievre plainly does not understand what he does not wish to understand. First, in 2000, it was legal. The Act has changed since then. Second, in subsequent elections, did our candidates and official agents know about the expenses? Yes, they knew about them. It was decided at the general council, completely democratically. All the candidates and all the official agents knew about the expenses. Were there documents? I refer you to the minutes and transcripts of the general council meetings. Were contracts signed? Yes, they were signed. Did they receive an invoice from the supplier? Yes, they did. Did they pay fair market value? Yes. Everyone paid an equitable share. There's the difference with the Bloc Québécois. In any event, two CEOs have said that we acted properly, because we requested an interpretation from the CEO. A superior court has said we were right, and there have been no searches of our party's offices.
That being said, it would be very nice to see Mr. Mayrand again, if necessary, but we do not want to limit the debate. We do not want to put a stop to the debate; on the contrary, we want to see it continue, progress and expand. We do not want to derail it as the Conservative Party is doing. And that is exactly what you are doing. You are, if I may use the expression, spinning the debate because you don't like what you're hearing. Given that you have already voted against having confidence in the CEO, we can only think that the sole purpose of all of your questions is to derail the debate. There is nothing else we can think. You yourselves, every one of you, rose in the House to vote against having confidence in the CEO. You yourselves said that you had no confidence in the Chief Electoral Officer, who is sitting here. How can we think, in good faith, that you are asking him questions in order to advance the debate and help us understand the situation better? If we keep him any longer, I think this is going to look like an interrogation, for the purpose of torturing him. I would say, in jest, that we are not in Guantanamo.
For all these reasons, I think that one last round will be enough, Mr. Chair.