Monsieur Godin.
Evidence of meeting #25 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was limit.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #25 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was limit.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:30 p.m.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
My question follows on from Mr. Guimond's question.
In British Columbia, the subject of the referendum was electoral reform, was it not? But a referendum can be on any subject, can it not?
12:30 p.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections BC
Indeed, the referendum was in conjunction with the election, but there was separate law for the referendum, and the regulations determined that it was being done in conjunction. It could have been any other question; it didn't need to be on electoral reform.
12:35 p.m.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Okay, I want to use the example of this year. I know you are in British Columbia, but I'll give an example for New Brunswick. It could have come to the federal level on something else, but I'll use the New Brunswick example, okay?
New Brunswick has decided to sell Énergie New Brunswick to Quebec. People are upset, pissed off, and they say you should go to the people. That could be a referendum, right?
12:35 p.m.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Now we go to a referendum, and say we do it at election time. We know that the present government wants to sell it.
I'll use names. I don't care. We're privileged—I hope so.
Irving has a big interest in selling it to Quebec because they're going to get 20% savings on their electricity. Does this mean that then they could make a promotion on their own, as a third party, saying it's a good thing that we sell Énergie New Brunswick to Hydro-Québec, which is the same thing as the government wants, but it's part of a referendum. And all the big businesses that want that 20% off say they don't care if New Brunswick owns it or not, but what they're interested in is how much money they put in the bank.
12:35 p.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections BC
It brings up the issue that was raised earlier about whether spending inordinate amounts of money on the yes side will necessarily win you the day. I see exactly the situation you spell out.
12:35 p.m.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Then the government just sits on the sidelines and says, hey, I have some partners there who'll do a good campaign for me.
12:35 p.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections BC
In the British Columbia context, they could spend as much as they wanted on the referendum, and the contributors could spend as much as they wanted on contributing to third party advocacy.
12:35 p.m.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
The contributors are the ones who don't get their 20% and they're probably broke in the beginning anyway. They're the ordinary people.
I want to use an actual situation that could happen. In the electoral change referendum you said the government and the opposition didn't get involved; it's just electoral change. But when you take a referendum on something that would make a big difference, as I just explained--everybody is all upset and ready to go to the gates, saying, “We should make the decision and not you; we should tell you where we should go”--then actually, yes, what you're saying could happen.
12:35 p.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections BC
The way the law is structured in British Columbia right now, the scenario you draw out about interested parties raising significant moneys and putting up a big campaign would certainly be possible. Whether that would guarantee the result they want is an unknown.
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Rodger Cuzner Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS
How long will it be before the next referendum on electoral reform in B.C.?
12:35 p.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections BC
I haven't heard anything about another referendum on electoral reform, sir.
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Rodger Cuzner Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS
From a distance, it seems that the people in B.C. are pleased with the final outcome and how the referendum really had an effect this time. They seem pleased that at least the issue has been dealt with.
12:35 p.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections BC
From my own perspective, it was a definitive decision. The worst case would have been another close miss.
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Rodger Cuzner Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS
It seems to be an issue that has died since the referendum, at least.
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Rodger Cuzner Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS
You mentioned that about 64% of the people didn't understand that there was going to be a referendum as part of that election. Did you guys advertise the referendum as well, or are you saying the advertising just took place between the two camps, the two umbrella groups? Was there a general advertising campaign put on by Elections B.C. as well?
12:35 p.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections BC
We gave both messages out at the same time: that there was an election and a referendum process under way. There was the government's referendum information office. They had an advertising campaign and, of course, the proponent and opponent groups had their advertising campaigns that were a little bit more issue-based. So there was a fair amount of information going out. It was being broadcast on television. It was being printed in newspapers. It was on the Internet. It was on the radio. It was certainly being put out there, but in modern society there are a lot of messages being put out every day, and this one didn't seem to be getting through.
12:40 p.m.
Liberal
Rodger Cuzner Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS
About $4.5 million each was the limit on the yes and no.
12:40 p.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections BC
No, there were no limits on the referendum, only on the election spending.
12:40 p.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections BC
The limits I spoke of were that the parties could make statements about the referendum, but they had to stay within their election spending limits.