All right. You have raised some important issues, issues that are essential to the smooth running of an election. We did indeed note that improvements needed to be made to the training provided. Obviously, because of constraints in the legislation, we have to recruit the 200,000 or so workers we need two weeks before the day of the vote, which leaves very little time for training. Training is limited to three hours, but we have to provide workers with training on all aspects of the election process and not just on specialized tasks. So we have to be realistic and understand that even if we focus on voter identification, the time dedicated to this issue was not adequate. We are therefore going to have to improve our training techniques.
As for the issue of recruitment, we have noted that if you go east to west in the country, the reference rate for deputy returning officers on polling day declines. In fact, it falls to 2% in Alberta and 3% in British Columbia. I would like to point out to the committee that returning officers cannot recruit actively before the 17th day prior to the election. So, if so few names are referred, that makes the returning officer's job and challenge that much greater. You touched on the issue of compensation. This will be one of our priorities over the next few months. We are going to look at the rates and propose the required adjustments so that the governor in council can set a new excise tax.
I have noted your comments regarding the shredding process. I will look into this matter. If we can improve the process and make it more efficient, we will do so.