Evidence of meeting #41 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 elections.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Marc Mayrand  Nominee for the position of Chief Electoral Officer, As an Individual
Clerk of the Committee  Ms. Lucile McGregor

11:40 a.m.

Bloc

Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC

No. Some provisions came into effect after two months, but others will only come into effect after six months. We hope the government will have these provisions come into effect as quickly as possible so that the system of appointing returning officers can be changed.

11:40 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Gary Goodyear

I'll allow a short answer, yes.

11:40 a.m.

Nominee for the position of Chief Electoral Officer, As an Individual

Marc Mayrand

I am well aware that there has been a very significant number of changes to the legislation for Elections Canada. I will have to find out about the exact status of these issues so that I know exactly what is in force, what is not and when the provisions will be in force. However, there is no doubt that the priority of Elections Canada is to be ready for an election. The next thing we must do is to ensure the orderly implementation of the various provisions that have just been passed.

11:40 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Gary Goodyear

Thank you.

You have the floor, Mr. Godin.

11:40 a.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would like to start by welcoming Mr. Mayrand to our meeting today.

For the record, I would like to emphasize that I agree with my colleague, Mr. Guimond. The Advisory Committee of the Registered Political Parties is a very important body. It gives you an opportunity to hear from the political parties and to make a decision in light of this. The committee has been very useful in the past, and I think it should be continued, because we are part of the democratic process. You are not simply isolated in an ivory tower somewhere.

Since being approached for the position of Chief Electoral Officer, have you taken the time to study Mr. Kingsley's policy or the way he wanted things done? For your part, have you noticed anything that you would like to do differently?

11:40 a.m.

Nominee for the position of Chief Electoral Officer, As an Individual

Marc Mayrand

I will be very frank with you, Mr. Godin. So far, I have not had an opportunity to do that, and I have been very careful not to request any information from Elections Canada.

The first step was to come here to meet with you today and to await your decision. If you were to approve my nomination, my priority would be to make myself more familiar with Elections Canada and to understand its priorities and policy direction. However, after some consultations, I will have to find out how the other players in the system view Elections Canada and hear what improvements or challenges they think face the organization.

11:40 a.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

As Ms. Robillard was saying, since this is the second minority government in the recent past, we are getting used to having elections every 18 months. It could happen even sooner this time, who knows. So there could be an election, we will soon have a new Chief Electoral Officer, and various legislation is in the process of being implemented, such as Bill C-31.

You have a great deal of experience in the area of bankruptcy and finance. Bill C-31 is of great concern to the NDP, because it would require people to reveal their birth dates to the various political parties. In Canada at the moment, there have been some problems with credit cards. One piece of information that is sometimes requested in order to validate a credit card transaction is a person's birth date.

Is birth date not the ultimate tool to give to people who steal credit cards? Do you think that Elections Canada needs the birth date, as provided for in Bill C-31?

11:45 a.m.

Nominee for the position of Chief Electoral Officer, As an Individual

Marc Mayrand

Privacy considerations are a thorny issue for a number of government organizations.

11:45 a.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

Excuse me, but I see that in your brief you say: "Parliament's intention and for the greater public good".

Perhaps you could comment on that.

11:45 a.m.

Nominee for the position of Chief Electoral Officer, As an Individual

Marc Mayrand

If I understand it, there must be a balance between facilitating voter participation and maintaining the integrity of the voting system.

In order to maintain the integrity of the vote, from what I understand of Bill C-31, we must be able to identify voters who want to exercise their franchise on voting day.

Bill C-31 specifically requires that a birth date be entered on the list of electors. This appears to me to be the will of Parliament. I would not want to create the illusion that I could change that will; however, my concern would be to ensure that this information is used only as required in order to facilitate the vote.

11:45 a.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

But under Bill C-31, the birth date must be provided, on the list of citizens, to all the political parties.

11:45 a.m.

Nominee for the position of Chief Electoral Officer, As an Individual

Marc Mayrand

You mean the list of electors.

11:45 a.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

Even though you say that this is the will of Parliament, in light of the fact that you may be the next Chief Electoral Officer, you are entitled to your opinion, but you do have a significant responsibility.

On the one hand, there's the need to protect people's privacy, and on the other, all democracies are required to recognize people who come in to vote. But at the same time, the two considerations must go hand-in-hand.

With respect to Bill C-31, would you recommend that we wait, that we give you an opportunity to review it and to come back to the committee before it is passed by Parliament?

11:45 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Gary Goodyear

Excuse me, Monsieur Godin. It's my concern that we're asking the witness to comment on legislation that's before the House of Commons, and perhaps we might want to steer away from that.

11:45 a.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

Is there a reason why?

11:45 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Gary Goodyear

Well, you're asking the witness to comment on legislation that's before the House. His opinion, in my opinion, is not relevant. If it's passed in the House, he'll have to abide by that law. So his opinion, at this point, is probably irrelevant.

11:45 a.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

No, Mr. Chair, with all respect, I disagree with you. When we had Bill C-31, we brought the former director of Elections Canada to bring his opinion on Bill C-31. We brought the Privacy Commissioner to give their opinion. Here is a person who will undertake a duty that is very important, and I think I'd like to know what he feels about it.

11:45 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Gary Goodyear

Okay. I'll accept that, and you may continue with your questioning. I'll add 30 seconds to your time.

That's my opinion, though.

11:45 a.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

I respect that you have an opinion, but I have mine too.

Thank you.

11:45 a.m.

Nominee for the position of Chief Electoral Officer, As an Individual

Marc Mayrand

I understand that Bill C-31 has been passed at the third reading stage in the House of Commons.

Has it not been passed at the third reading stage in the House of Commons?

11:45 a.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

No.

11:45 a.m.

Nominee for the position of Chief Electoral Officer, As an Individual

Marc Mayrand

I apologize, I was misinformed.

11:45 a.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

No, that is why I asked the question. There is still some time left to go back to this.

11:45 a.m.

Nominee for the position of Chief Electoral Officer, As an Individual

Marc Mayrand

This is a sensitive matter and one I would like to review much more closely before expressing a firm opinion today. I know that this matter received a great deal of discussion by this committee.

I believe you heard from the information commissioner. To some extent, I would really like to have an opportunity to review all the aspects of the issue and to determine if there is a way of placing conditions on this new requirement so that we can ensure people's privacy.

11:50 a.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

Thank you.