One of our strengths, being an NGO, is that life is a lot simpler for us than for civil servants. We have very pared-down rules and regulations for ourselves, so we can turn on a dime and can do these things literally in days.
Having said that, election observation has changed dramatically over the past couple of decades. It's no longer an issue of putting in a whole bunch of short-term observers just to observe the election day; it's a full cycle. That means having long-term observers. That's a key component.
Also, following on your earlier comments, the full cycle means that it doesn't end once the election is over. You don't just issue a report and then stop your work. One of the strengths of the Canadian Ukrainian community is that not only do they bring energy to election observation, but they also work on these files in a lot of different ways between elections. That's where the real heavy lifting comes in democracy promotion. Election observation is critically important, and the long-term observer component is becoming more important, but it's the follow-on activity.
For those who are interested, I think you're going to be very pleased with the way in which Mission Canada did this go-round, come next fall when both elections are over—the presidential election and then the parliamentary election.
We're looking at ways to keep this energy going between this fall and the next set of Ukrainian elections in four years. This is something we're all working at trying to figure out: how we can have a more “bang for the buck” process for this than just showing up for short-term missions.