I am pleased to have the opportunity to appear before the committee today to discuss the 2010-2011 Main Estimates for my office. I am accompanied today by Gisèle Côté, who, until recently, was Chief Financial Officer at Elections Canada; Brian Berry, the Acting Chief Financial Officer; and, lastly, Hughes St-Pierre, Senior Director, Strategy, Planning and Evaluation.
As members of the committee know, the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer is funded by and operates under two separate budget authorities. The first is an annual parliamentary appropriation, which includes the salaries of permanent full-time staff. For these Main Estimates, our appropriation is $29.6 million—representing the salaries of 404 full-time employees. It is this component that the committee is considering for approval today.
The second is the statutory authority that draws directly from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. It funds all the other Elections Canada expenditures, such as the costs of preparing for and conducting electoral events, maintenance of the National Register of Electors, quarterly political party allowances, and public information and education programs. Two other budget authorities are also statutory: the salary of the Chief Electoral Officer and the required contributions to employee benefit plans. Our total statutory draw is $92.2 million for this year; this excludes the costs of conducting electoral events.
The funds are allocated to Elections Canada's four key programs. The first concerns electoral event delivery, political financing, compliance and enforcement. The second concerns electoral event readiness and improvements. The third is for public education and information, and support for stakeholders. Lastly, there is electoral boundaries redistribution.
As members of the committee are aware, the most recent federal budget imposes fiscal restraint on government departments for three years. This has an impact on Elections Canada's appropriation, which covers the salaries of our permanent staff.
We will absorb this year's salary increase resulting from collective agreements. This is currently estimated at $450,000. For the subsequent two fiscal years, my agency will not be funded for any salary increases arising from future collective agreements.
Even though the 2010 budget measures do not apply to Elections Canada's statutory authority, my agency will adopt the spirit of budget restraint by applying a cap to its day-to-day operating expenditures. At the same time, Elections Canada will seek to minimize the impact on the services we provide to electors and political entities.
I would now like to briefly describe our priorities for the current year. In 2010-2011, Elections Canada will focus on four over-arching priorities: these are, first, improvements for electors; second, recommended amendments to the Canada Elections Act; third, services to political parties; and, lastly, internal improvements.
With regard to electors, as you know, my office returned to readiness in the fall of 2009 following the 40th general election in October 2008. We will maintain readiness but have shifted our attention to pursuing a series of administrative improvements to the conduct of electoral events. These improvements flow from our strategic plan and the results of our evaluations of the last general election.
The improvements include continuing the development of an online registration system, to be implemented by October 2011; conducting a pilot project to test technology to assist voters with visual or physical disabilities in casting their ballots independently; developing new creative content for our advertising campaign aimed at youth; adding the voter information card to the list of pieces of identification authorized by the Chief Electoral Officer in order to address challenges some groups of electors face in proving their address prior to voting; improving our methods and approaches for election officer recruitment and training; and finally, exploring ways to reduce barriers faced by some groups of electors. As we pursue these initiatives, we will see the active engagement of stakeholders, including members of this committee and the advisory committee of political parties.
Our second priority for the fiscal year is my report on recommendations for amendments to the Canada Elections Act, which I intend to submit to the Speaker of the House in mid-June. My report will seek to respond to changing needs of Canadians by recommending measures aimed at ensuring greater accessibility, transparency, and efficiency of the electoral process.
Our third priority is to continue improving our services to political entities. In particular, we intend to introduce further measures, such as online tutorials, to assist political entities in understanding regulatory requirements and to promote compliance with the requirements of the act.
Finally, my agency is moving forward with internal improvements. Over the next fiscal year we will implement the first full year of our new human resources strategy, with a particular focus on the professional development of our employees. As well, my office will be analyzing the conclusions of a recent A-base review, an exercise aimed at aligning the agency resources with its highest priorities. We also intend to increase our emphasis on working more closely with our provincial and territorial electoral partners to improve elector services, reduce duplication, and identify opportunities for cost savings.
As part of the upgrade of our information technology infrastructure, we will complete the relocation of a data centre to a modern PWGST facility and continue our efforts to migrate our field application to a new web-based platform. This is required for Elections Canada to deliver new services such as e-registration.
As in the past year, I will continue to consult the advisory committee of political parties on key issues. Last December I consulted a working group of the advisory committee regarding my upcoming recommendations and report. On April 26, we held a second session on e-registration with the working group. Our next meeting is scheduled for June 21 and 22. I also look forward to hosting the members of this committee at Elections Canada on June 17 to discuss our accessibility agenda.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My colleagues and I would be pleased to answer any questions.