Procedure and House Affairs Committee on April 19th, 2007

[Marc Mayrand]

I would welcome bringing any advice or any information that would help us solidify this list. The list was distributed for consultation purposes. It was also distributed to all political parties. So far, only two parties have responded, and we're still waiting to get additional comments. I'm sure that in June, when we have the meeting of the advisory committee of political parties, that will be an item on the agenda.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Very good. Okay.

If I could ask another question, I think one of the problems that occurs with ID is that many people who are serving as poll clerks will not have seen some of the pieces of ID that are there, so they actually will have trouble identifying them. As well, if we have a general list, like a library card, you can understand how a Vancouver library card with my name on it really ought not to count for purposes of a vote being cast in a riding in Ontario, to take an example. Perhaps it's an example that won't occur frequently, but you can see the point that there should be some geographically relevant limitations on it, and anything that can be done to (a) narrow these things down to a reasonable level and (b) ensure that void copies of these IDs are available for those who are working for Elections Canada would be enormously helpful in removing voter fraud.

I wanted to ask one other question very specifically about the voter fraud issue. It relates to the estimates. Some ridings, and I think here in particular of the riding of Trinity-Spadina in Toronto, had huge numbers of people who weren't on the voters list who turned up to vote on election day.

There are very high population turnovers in some ridings, of course, some urban ridings in particular. One way to try to deal with this would be to have a more extensive, old-fashioned enumeration, that kind of thing, but these are not inexpensive operations--just thoroughly redoing a list that clearly has completely collapsed in an area like that.

I'm told there were something like 12,000 election day registrations. At that point, essentially, you're saying we're going to let everybody who turns up vote, and we just have to accept that they may or may not act honestly. I think that is an inevitable result of a list that's in that complete a level of collapse.

Is there money available to take care of ridings of that nature to go through and do a really thorough redoing of the list?

[Marc Mayrand]

We have targeted revisions in those ridings or in areas within ridings where we are aware there's high mobility and significant change in the demographic of the population. So we would identify that area for targeted revision.

We will also be looking at some improvements in polling day registration for electors. One of the things I will share with the committee is that, as you know, my predecessor had commissioned an audit of the process that took place in Trinity-Spadina. That audit is almost completed, and I will be able to share it with the committee in the next very few weeks, I believe.

So I think with that information it will help to have a more productive discussion on this matter.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Thank you.

[Marc Mayrand]

I will be glad to discuss it further.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Thank you very much.

Monsieur Guimond.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Given that my preambles are always longer than my questions and your answers, I am going to ask my next 12 questions in one go. So please take notes.

On the topic of suitable office space, what do you think of the returning officer calling a meeting of local party representatives to go over the list?

Second, on the other page, you specifically mention that the list has been reviewed with MPs' agreement. You talk about revisions to polling divisions, mobile offices, and advance polling districts. Personally, unless my official agent or my representative is involved, any talk of revisions having been made with MPs' agreement means nothing.

In Quebec, an election was held last March 26th. Are you going to immediately transfer the data in Quebec's register to the National Register of Electors?

There was a question from Hon. Stephen Owen on Bill C-31. You know what Bill C-31 contains, the unique identifier, lists with dates of birth, revised tasks for the poll clerk. Are you starting to get ready in case an election is called?

During the last Quebec elections, there was a picture of the ballot at the entrance to each polling station. In other words, there was an enlarged photocopy, a homemade one, of what we see on the small ballot in the booth. I found that useful and practical in helping us make a choice when we are lining up. A photograph of each candidate had been added as well, and I found that interesting. Ms. Stoddart will probably say that our faces are protected information, but whatever.

I was kidding with that last remark.

Those are my questions, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

[Marc Mayrand]

I counted five questions.

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

I have a slight tendency to exaggerate.

[Marc Mayrand]

We strongly encourage returning officers to meet with party representatives, be they MPs, candidates, or representatives from constituency associations. I will check to see if the process has been followed, but I understood that MPs had been consulted about revisions to polling divisions. I can get back to you on that.

As for the transfer of information from the Quebec register, this has already been done. It was done on March 30th, I believe, certainly on one of the days after the election. The information was sent to us by the Chief Electoral Officer of Québec.

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

Once more, on the subject of polling stations, was there consultation? And have we been consulted in preparation for the next election?

[Marc Mayrand]

The notes deal with office space for the returning officers. Polling stations as such have still to be confirmed.

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

Would it be a good idea to consult us about the places where the people are going to vote, the polling stations, before we end up with unacceptable situations? Would it be good to have a little meeting with all the parties?

[Marc Mayrand]

I have no objection to that at all. I am telling you that I support the idea.

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

We need more than your support. It is your call.

[Marc Mayrand]

Yes.

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

Mr. Kingsley told us that. It is not my call, it is yours. So please do more than support the idea.

[Marc Mayrand]

As regards preliminary preparations given Bill C-31, I do not know if I have any more time to talk about it.

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

Go ahead. Don't think of stopping.

[Marc Mayrand]

I can say that very, very preliminary work has been done. I have to point out that none of the training given to elections staff up to now to prepare for a vote that could take place at any moment refers to C-31 because we do not have the final text. Senate consideration has just begun, so we did not think that it was appropriate to revise all the training manuals and write new procedures. We have started to think about it within the organization, to be sure, and we shall see.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Davies, five minutes.

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you.

Could you tell us when the proposed list you've put out for voter ID will be concluded? When will it be finalized?

[Marc Mayrand]

I don't have a firm date.

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

A month, two months? Obviously, if there's an election--

[Marc Mayrand]

I would like to discuss it with the advisory committee of political parties, which will take place in June.

To me, there's no great urgency to close that list until the bill comes through the Senate, but I think it's good to start thinking about this matter.