Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I am pleased to appear before this Committee today to discuss four important subjects. The first of these is the draft Referendum Regulations I forwarded to the Committee in June. The second is our election readiness. The last two subjects include the Report on the Evaluations of the 40th General Election of October 14, 2008, and my forthcoming recommendations to Parliament. Because of the number of items I have been asked to address, my remarks highlight the key issues.
I am accompanied today by Rennie Molnar, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, Electoral Events; and Stéphane Perreault, Senior General Counsel.
Let’s start with the referendum question.
The Referendum Act requires the Chief Electoral Officer to make regulations adapting the Canada Elections Act so that it can apply to a federal referendum. The current regulations were last updated in 2001, based on the Act as it existed at that time. Parliament has since made several amendments to the Canada Elections Act. As a result, new regulations must be made that reflect the current Act.
On June 12, 2009, I forwarded the proposed regulations to you and sought your feedback as I intend to make the regulations in November of this year. While the drafting of the regulations is essentially a technical exercise, a number of difficulties arose when we tried to integrate the provisions of the 1992 Referendum Act with those of the Canada Elections Act, a statute that has evolved significantly since that time. I am pleased to report that we have now found viable solutions to some of these difficulties, particularly in connection with the distribution of the lists of electors.
In other cases, however, the issues identified in the document you received in June remain. I indicated in my note that the Referendum Act provides no authority for the returning officers to appoint deputy returning officers and clerks except for those individuals recommended by parties. This could certainly become a challenge in light of the decline of the number of workers recommended by political parties, which in some provinces, amounts to as little as 2% or 3% of workers hired for an election.
We have also recently identified two other matters of which you should be aware. The first concern is that, in the current Referendum Act, inmates serving a sentence of two years or more cannot vote in a referendum. That is because while the exclusion of inmates under the Canada Elections Act was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada in Sauvé (2002) and is therefore without effect in the context of elections, it remains formally in the Act. However, in Haig v. Canada, the Supreme Court ruled in 1993 that the constitutional right to vote in an election did not extend to voting in a referendum. Given this ruling of the Court, there would be no authority for me to adapt the rules to enable these prisoners to vote during a referendum. This discrepancy with respect to the treatment of inmates can only be addressed in the context of a legislative review.
The second challenge is that while the Director of Public Prosecutions Act provides the DPP specific authority to prosecute offences under the Canada Elections Act, it does not give him the express authority to prosecute offences under the Referendum Act. The uncertainty regarding the authority of the DPP may compromise the ability to prosecute.
In light of the various issues related to the age of the Referendum Act, I think that it would be highly desirable for Parliament to consider a legislative review. I would be pleased to provide you with specific recommendations regarding the difficulties that are technical in nature. In the meantime, my intention is to make the regulations in November in order for us to have an up-to-date legislative framework in case a referendum is called.
I would like to turn now to election readiness.
Let me take this opportunity to assure you that Elections Canada is ready to administer a general election whenever one is called. I recently held a teleconference with representatives of the Advisory Committee of Political Parties to share our approach and level of preparedness for a general election. When it comes, the 41st general election will be delivered with some targeted enhancements which were put into place in response to the agency's post-election evaluations.
Among these we directed returning officers to conduct a review of advance poll districts in rural areas with the objective of improving access for rural voters. As a result, 397 advance polls will be added across the country.
Returning officers are in the process of sharing the results of this exercise with representatives of political entities who were consulted during the review stage.
I have also made some minor changes to the List of Pieces of Identification I authorize, as Chief Electoral Officer. These changes reflect feedback from the consultations and the evaluations that we conducted on the voter identification requirements.
In addition, we have revised our approach for training election officers and have updated our training manuals. These changes should ensure a more consistent application of the voter identification rules by poll workers. Last week, I participated in several meetings that were held across the country with returning officers and training officers and found that our efforts were well received.
When I appeared before you last February, I indicated that we intended to review the tariff for the payment of electoral workers. However, in light of the Expenditure Restraint Act, which was passed by Parliament last winter, I've had to defer this review for the time being.
Before concluding on this topic, let me say that I am aware that concerns have been expressed regarding the potential impacts of the H1N1 flu virus during an electoral event. I take these concerns very seriously, as impacts may vary considerably across the country. My overall concern is to exercise due diligence by providing continuous services to electors. This may require us to adapt services to circumstances as they arise.
In many cases the steps we are taking to address H1N1 challenges are extensions of contingencies we already have in the field to address situations such as poll worker absenteeism, staff shortages, or difficulties in finding poll sites. We are applying the guidelines of the Public Health Agency of Canada by adopting additional precautionary measures to provide a healthy environment for electors and workers. This includes ensuring that alcohol-based hand cleansers are available at each polling station and that posters with information on H1N1 prevention are on display
My next topic today is on evaluation and recommendations. The evaluation report, a first for Elections Canada, discusses the results of our evaluations of the 40th general election. It serves as a bridge between my statutory report and the report on recommended changes to the legislation, which will be coming later on.
Our evaluations, while generally positive, and in fact they are quite positive, point to a number of areas in need of either legislative or administrative improvements. In some cases we are in the process of developing recommendations to address issues raised by the evaluations; in other cases we are exploring what can be accomplished administratively.
I would like to briefly discuss three key areas: identification, political financing, and administrative processes.
On identification, according to our evaluations the vast majority of electors were aware of the new identification requirements. They accepted them, and they came to vote prepared to satisfy those requirements. However, some groups, such as students, seniors in residences, electors residing in long-term-care facilities, and aboriginal Canadians living on reserves, appear to have experienced more difficulties than the general population with the proof of address requirement. I believe one way of addressing this is to continue to engage such electors to ensure we fully understand the challenges they face with the requirements so we are able to develop proper solutions.
Over the next few months we will also be evaluating the feasibility of adding the voter information card to the list of authorized documents to make it easier for these electors and others to prove their addresses.
Finally, we should consider whether the current provisions for vouching may be overly restrictive of electors' abilities to vouch for family members. An approach similar to that used in British Columbia, where a relative can vouch for any voters who are family members, may be better adapted to the needs of electors.
Political financing is another area of concern that I think merits your attention. Successive changes to the Canada Elections Act have placed a significant regulatory burden on participants in the political process. This is particularly acute for official agents and financial agents who are required to understand and respect the requirements. My next report will propose changes that aim to lessen this burden, within the context, of course, of the existing public policy framework.
Finally, on administrative processes, feedback from returning officers points to a growing concern about our ability to ensure sustainable services at polling sites across the country while working within the constraints set by the act. While we can, as I mentioned earlier, improve our training procedures and manuals, we believe it may be time to explore new models for voting operations. This approach could provide better service to electors and address some of the challenges involved in recruiting and training workers for increasingly complex tasks.
The key priority for my office is to take advantage of new technology to make the electoral process more accessible to electors. We have recently begun work on e-registration, an initiative aimed at improving registration services by allowing electors to register online. This project is at the stage of design, and its initial implementation is planned for March 2011. My forthcoming report, following consultation with political parties, will include proposals for legislative changes that would allow us to implement online registration. I now expect this report to be tabled in the spring of 2010.
Mr. Chairman, that concludes my remarks for today. I would like to thank you for the opportunity to discuss these issues with the committee.
At this time, my colleagues and I would be pleased to answer any questions.
Thank you.
