Evidence of meeting #20 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.
11:30 a.m.
Liberal
Stephen Owen Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Mr. Chair, I'd like to comment on that. When I was a student I never had that problem of being distracted by a fixed exam date.
11:30 a.m.
President, New Democratic Party
I think there probably is something to that, but I think that's the situation in the current system as well. We've seen situations where we're in kind of constant campaign mode. Recently federally that's been the case, and provincially as well. I can recall one time being nominated as a candidate for an election that was imminent and being a candidate for a year and a half to two years for the imminent election. I don't think this necessarily creates that dynamic.
11:30 a.m.
Executive Director, Conservative Party of Canada
Mr. Owen, I'm from British Columbia, as you are, and we don't have to just speak in theory; we can look at practice. Correct me if I'm wrong, but British Columbia has gone through a full cycle of fixed election dates, and I don't believe those difficulties arose. I think British Columbians and the politicians accommodated that. You may have other evidence I don't have, but I'm not aware of any particular abuse by any of the parties. I think Professor Milner's paper about putting in a fixed election date is very good.
I always had that fear too that we'd move to some sort of American model where we're constantly campaigning, but the empirical evidence is that in those jurisdictions I've just cited this doesn't seem to happen. It's not happening in Ontario, to my knowledge, it hasn't happened in B.C., and it hasn't happened in the Scottish and Welsh parliamentary electoral cycle. We don't have to just deal in theory; we can deal in practice. Other Westminster models have adopted it. This phenomenon we had a fear about doesn't seem to actually arise.
11:30 a.m.
Conservative
11:30 a.m.
General Director, Bloc Québécois
I do not believe that Bill C-16 in any way changes a Government's morality or integrity. Under the current system, as with the system being proposed, people who are intent on using public funds for partisan purposes will still be able to do so. However, one fact remains: of the 40 parliamentary democracies across the globe, the vast majority have opted for fixed dates.
So, as regards the use of public funds, I don't think Bill C-16 will really change anything. The last time, in 2004, the election was postponed by almost a month in relation to the anticipated date. One may wonder how taxpayers' money was being used during that month. The same thing applies to the 2006 election. Even a passing glance at the short recent history of federal elections would probably show that ads, investments, and projects of various types were announced days or even weeks before an election was called, something that was the Prime Minister's prerogative.
11:30 a.m.
Liberal
11:30 a.m.
Liberal
Marcel Proulx Liberal Hull—Aylmer, QC
I want to thank the witnesses for being with us today.
Mr. Gardner, I have a question for you. You're absolutely right with respect to the number of people moving on July 1st. However, when a member of your party questioned Mr. Kingsley on that very issue, he replied that there was no problem and that they would probably be emphasizing the fact that Canadian citizens can register on voting day, in any case. At the same time, that leads to a whole host of problems, in the sense that they are not on the correct lists, and as a result they don't necessarily receive their mail, and so on.
The second problem that I see, as regards the date, is the conflict that might arise between federal and municipal elections held in Quebec, despite what is asserted in a background paper issued by the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform. Indeed, that document states that the third Monday in October was selected because it is the least likely to conflict with fixed date provincial elections, statutory holidays, religious holidays, and municipal elections. They probably forgot to consider the situation in Quebec.
So, in 30 seconds, could you give us an overview of the impact -- something I know quite a bit about -- of overlapping dates, particularly from the organizational standpoint.
11:35 a.m.
General Director, Bloc Québécois
There is no doubt, given that municipal elections take place on the first Sunday of November, that there will be a considerable amount of “traffic”, so to speak, in terms of posters, organization, and even knowing what specific election or polling station is being referred to. So, there is likely to be quite a lot of confusion.
All the mitigation measures intended to neutralize the effects of people moving on the electoral list are unacceptable. Planning in advance to hold an election at a date when it is well known that 575,000 people may not have their names on the voters list is simply an act of bad faith.
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON
Thank you.
I think Monsieur Gardner is raising a good point. We should not assume that it's a mutual thing, not the same groups of people. Not every sector of the population is likely to move as frequently as other sectors. We can expect, for example, that young people are likely to move more frequently than people who are senior citizens. As a result, certain groups are more likely to be left off the list than other groups, and that's a valid concern. Trying to capture that is very important.
I'm not sure I have an actual preferred date.
Mr. Gardner, is there a date that your party prefers?
11:35 a.m.
Martin Carpentier Director, Bloc Québécois
We have to look at the various options, because there is the matter of municipal elections, but also because the weekend that precedes the third Monday in October is Thanksgiving weekend, which occurs every year. That could pose a problem in terms of voter turnout. Also, in Quebec, there are quite a lot of school holidays in both the universities and CEGEPs around that time of the year, which affects people who are eligible to vote.
The date that we could suggest, and which does not conflict with provincial civic or other holidays, would be the first Monday in May. There is one time between now and the year 2020 that the previous weekend will be Easter weekend, and that is in the year 2011. That would be the only time that advance polls would take place during a holiday period. Otherwise, there is the matter of the date, but we could also raise quite a number of other things that are affected if the third Monday in October is selected.
The first Monday in May would not conflict with anything. Furthermore, students are still in educational institutions. We always talk about encouraging young people to vote, but in that case, they would still be in their institutions, in the place where they are probably on the voters list.
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON
The first Monday in May coincides with exam period, does it not? If I'm not mistaken, that is when exams begin in the universities. That could pose a significant problem.
11:35 a.m.
General Director, Bloc Québécois
I have one last comment to make on that. I think it's up to the Committee to take a very careful look at the entire calendar. An initial review suggests the first Monday in May, but I do think it's up to the Committee to consider selecting a date that will have no negative impact on the electorate. The third Monday in October would have an adverse effect: a population equivalent to that of Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland is moving. If those people are not on the voters list, that is a problem. If the entire population of Northern Ontario is moving, that is problematic. Well, it also causes a problem in Quebec.
11:40 a.m.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON
I would like to invite the other witnesses to comment, from their points of view, on the merits of the government-suggested date versus other dates that you might think are preferable. I'm interested in hearing what you have to say here, but if you want to take these thoughts back and submit a written comment to the clerk for distribution to all members of the committee, that would be equally valid.
Have you any comments on the preferred dates?
Mr. Chairman, maybe you should choose who goes first.
11:40 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Goodyear
Mr. Gardner, you have had sufficient comment on that issue. If you want to comment further, please do.
I think we'll move in the opposite direction: Mr. Donison.
11:40 a.m.
Executive Director, Conservative Party of Canada
The difficulty, Mr. Chair, is that for any date you choose, there will always be potential conflicts. Of course the bill allows for some flexibility in that regard, in terms of cultural or religious events and so on.
Certainly from a party operational point of view, I think the third week in October is very good in terms particularly of voter turnout. I think that is already before you. The weather is still good at that time of the year. The snowbirds haven't left, usually, by that time. There is a myriad of reasons. The third Monday in October is probably the best date that the government has been able to find, and it is quite satisfactory from a political party point of view.
11:40 a.m.
President, New Democratic Party
I don't have a better suggestion for a date, although I think these considerations should be taken into account.
11:40 a.m.
Senior Deputy to the Leader, The Green Party of Canada
Similarly, it would appear that date is a good one, but I would certainly want to take into account what appears to be a legitimate concern raised by this big moving date in Quebec. I want to particularly signal, similarly, that we talked about student exams. I would venture to say there is somewhere close to an equal amount of movement around the end of the academic year with university and college, where hundreds of thousands of students go home or move on to summer jobs. That is something we would want to take into consideration, into account, in late April or early May.
My experience, in general, is that people who want to vote will find a way to vote, and people who have decided that they don't want to vote won't vote. While we do need to think seriously about the date, I wouldn't get too hung up on it.
11:40 a.m.
Conservative