Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I am pleased to appear before the committee today to discuss the Report of the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada on the 40th general election of October 14, 2008.
My report deals not only with the general election but also, as required by the Canada Elections Act, with matters of significance that occurred in the previous general election which, I believe, should be brought to your attention.
I am accompanied today by Stéphane Perrault, Senior General Counsel, Rennie Molnar, Associate Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, and Belaineh Deguefé, Director General, Outreach, Communications and Research.
My introductory remarks will be brief. My purpose today is to listen to your feedback and respond to your questions, particularly those regarding the report I submitted to you on February 2, but also any other matter related to the election. I will then be able to take your comments into account as part of the ongoing improvement process that we have set up at Elections Canada to administer elections.
The 40th general election was the first general election that I administered since becoming Chief Electoral Officer in February 2007.
According to the feedback we have received to date, the administration of the election generally met the highest standards of service expected by Canadians. There were, of course, a number of incidents that arose which will need to be addressed. However, they should be considered in the wider context of delivering a major event.
My report indicates that there are key areas that merit your attention: first of all, the administrative processes described in the act, the voter identification requirements and, finally, political financing rules.
Over the years, the administrative processes have become more complex, especially given the short 36-day calendar for an election. The legislation is prescriptive in nature and provides little flexibility in the administration of the various processes that underlie a successful election. For instance, any delay in the short timelines to set up Elections Canada's local offices risks compromising our service to electors and candidates. Our capacity to recruit and train election workers and their ability to fulfil their duties are also affected by the legislative framework.
The second area posing some challenges is the new voter identification requirements, which were administered for the first time during a general election. Preliminary evidence from our post-election telephone survey of electors indicates that a clear majority of electors were aware of the new requirements and did not experience any problems when voting. However, we know that certain groups of electors, including seniors, students, aboriginal people living on reserves, and homeless electors face particular challenges in proving their identity and address. The need to ensure consistent application of the new requirements by election workers is another challenge that will need to be addressed.
The third area that merits your attention is the administration of the political financing rules. Successive legislative reforms in this area have resulted in complex financing rules for election participants and a significant regulatory burden. We have heard much anecdotal evidence about this issue from various political entities, and I believe opportunities can be found to streamline the process and to reduce the procedural burden on participants.
To conclude, I would like to draw to your attention that while the Canada Elections Act requires that I report to Parliament within 90 days following the return of the writs, a thorough assessment of the election cannot be accomplished in this timeframe.
My office is presently conducting a series of post-election evaluations. These will help us to further identify and establish priority areas that may require improvement. These findings will be part of an integrated report that I intend to submit to this committee later this spring. I also intend to submit to Parliament by the end of the year a report containing my recommendations for the better administration of the act.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. At this time my colleagues and I would be pleased to answer questions that you may have.