Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
To begin with, I'd like to make a comment to the minister, and I'm sure he has a thick enough skin to take it.
I've been a member of Parliament since 1993 and I have sat on committees since then. I spent six years at the Standing Committee on Transport. There were very arrogant Liberal ministers. For example, I remember Doug Young, the former Doug Young. Well, he's not dead, but he was formerly a member of Parliament. He was beaten by my colleague Yvon Godin, to my great satisfaction.
Ms. Robillard, my colleague from Westmount—Ville-Marie sat as minister here. And I've already had the opportunity to question her in the past.
So there were very arrogant ministers, but I can tell you, Minister and Government House Leader, that in my opinion, when you come and testify on bills, you need to stay above the fray. You didn't attack the Bloc that much, but you said things about Mr. Dion, Mr. Mulcair and Ms. Jennings. There was a little bit for everybody in the turkey. There was a thought for everybody, on the eve of the holiday season. And I want to tell you, Minister, that you've missed an important opportunity to show a bit of class and remain above the fray, in introducing your bill.
Having said that, my remark probably won't make waves anywhere. But I didn't make it for effect, I made it as a sincere expression of what I believe.
I'm now going to make a second comment which you'll have the opportunity to respond to. As my colleague Tom Lukiwski mentioned, on the eve of the by-elections in Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean, it became apparent that the Monday, September 24 election was going to turn into a circus, so much so that the members of our committee decided unanimously to meet and hear from Mr. Mayrand.
I undertook, on behalf of the Bloc Québécois, to introduce a bill, which is what I did in early October. And you introduced your own. I was fine with that, but our committee unanimously decided that the Chief Electoral Officer enjoyed too much latitude, in other words, had too much leeway. Everyone here agreed that that was the case. He had extraordinary powers that he refused to use, I might add. But in your bill, Minister, you give this discretionary power back to the Chief Electoral Officer, particularly in the first five clauses.
Wouldn't it have been simpler to say, as is the case in Morocco, a 92% or 93% Muslim country, that voters turning up to vote at a polling station must do so with an uncovered face? But no, you are counting the angels on the head of a pin.
Clause 3 of the bill amends section 32.1 of the Act:
32.1 After the issue of the writ, a returning officer may, with the approval of the Chief Electoral Officer, appoint any other persons that are necessary to attend at a polling place for the conduct of the vote.
I had the opportunity of telling the committee that there are 280 residents in the small community of Baie-Sainte-Catherine, in my riding. That means that there are one or two polling stations. Now let's imagine that only men work in these polling stations and that a woman turns up and wants to vote fully veiled. You've given Mr. Mayrand the power to force her to uncover her face in front of a woman, in another room, in a isolated polling booth, or something to that effect. You've complicated the situation.