Evidence of meeting #19 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 39th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was date.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, Elections BC
The district electoral officers are expected to do assessments of their staff so that they can make good choices in the future, and Elections B.C. has a formal performance measurement process for our district electoral officers and deputies.
Liberal
Karen Redman Liberal Kitchener Centre, ON
There is another area I wanted to touch on. I know you talked a little bit about election spending, and you referenced in passing third-party spending during elections. Have you ever compared the rules and parameters under which your provincial elections are held vis-à-vis how the federal elections are held, specifically with an eye to those two issues?
Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, Elections BC
In British Columbia, we currently require third-party advertisers to register with the Chief Electoral Officer. If they sponsor over $500 worth of election advertising, they must file a disclosure report, but there are no spending limits for third-party election advertisers in B.C. That provision was repealed.
Liberal
Karen Redman Liberal Kitchener Centre, ON
With reference to pre-writ spending by a candidate or an incumbent, there are no parameters or rules, and you haven't seen any abuse or any increased spending?
Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, Elections BC
We saw a slight increase in spending by some of the larger...[Technical difficulty--Editor]. Most of that was during the campaign period. We didn't see widespread...[Technical difficulty--Editor]...as some people had feared in the context of a fixed-date event.
Liberal
Karen Redman Liberal Kitchener Centre, ON
I just heard “larger”, and then there was a blank. The spending was by larger what?
Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, Elections BC
The larger parties somewhat increased their spending in this past election, but we did not see significant spending outside the campaign period.
Liberal
Karen Redman Liberal Kitchener Centre, ON
Having been a previous regional and municipal councillor at a lower level, obviously, in Ontario, I know that certain decisions and certain pieces of legislation were not carried forward at the municipal level after a point on the calendar had been arbitrarily set, based on when we knew the coming election was to be. There's no rule or any incumbency placed on people in the legislature? Do they just carry on business as usual until they come to the writ period?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Goodyear
You still have a minute left, if you or any of your colleagues would like to take that time.
Liberal
Karen Redman Liberal Kitchener Centre, ON
I had offered to sing for you earlier, but I think I'll pass.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Goodyear
We here are far more grateful for that decision than I'm sure you are, Ms. Johnson.
I will now pass the microphone to Monsieur Guimond.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Over the past few years, have you had minority governments in British Columbia? I am not a specialist in British Columbia elections, but it seems to me that when the Socreds were in, there was…
Mr. Hill says no. I believe him.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
When was the last minority government in British Columbia? This is not a trick question.
Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, Elections BC
I'm sorry, I don't recall, but it was definitely a very long time ago.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Yes, but you had the Socreds and the Liberals and the NDP.
Conservative
Jay Hill Conservative Prince George—Peace River, BC
When the Socreds were in, there was virtually no support for the Liberals. It was a long time ago. I don't remember.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
One last question. What was the voter turnout rate in 2005? Perhaps you’ve already answered that question.
Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, Elections BC
Voter turnout by writ voters I believe was...[Technical difficulty --Editor].
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Goodyear
Again, my apologies.
Would you mind repeating the number for us again?