Thank you very much.
You're right, it is a shared responsibility by all, including Elections Canada, though as the government we have to take ultimate responsibility, and that's what we're seeking to do with moving quickly to correct the issue.
In doing so, I have spoken with the Chief Electoral Officer. It was he who actually drew the problem to my attention personally. He called me to raise the issue. We did discuss how it would be approached at that time. Obviously, since I was just learning of it, we didn't have a bill, and my concern was how, in the event that we had an electoral event that precipitated...that risked people losing their right to vote, we would respond to it. I had assurances that led me to believe that if one of those events came on very quickly he was prepared to use his adaptation powers.
In particular, one of my concerns was that sometimes, if you're dealing with a bill and an item of legislation, it might cause an official like him to say, “Well, that's before Parliament so I don't want to wade into it”. I asked, “If we brought forward a bill to correct it, would that make it more or less likely that you would use your adaptation powers?” He said, “Well, if it was clearly the government's intent to bring forward a bill like that, and if it was going through the parliamentary process, it would make me more likely to exercise my adaptation power to ensure that people's right to vote was protected”.
So those were practical and positive responses from the Chief Electoral Officer, who I think recognizes that he has some ownership in the problem and certainly has a very strong interest in ensuring that people's legal right to vote—and that's what we're talking about here, the legal right to vote—is protected. So I'm pleased with that.
That being said, I would still encourage the committee to move with the greatest alacrity to deal with the bill and get it into law as quickly as possible so that he doesn't have to resort to that kind of measure, and he can simply apply the new law.