Procedure and House Affairs Committee on Feb. 20th, 2007

[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.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

I'll allow a short answer, yes.

[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.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Thank you.

You have the floor, Mr. Godin.

[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?

[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.

[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?

[Marc Mayrand]

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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[Marc Mayrand]

You mean the list of electors.

[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?

[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.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Is there a reason why?

[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.

[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.

[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.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

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

Thank you.

[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?

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

No.

[Marc Mayrand]

I apologize, I was misinformed.

[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.

[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.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Thank you.