Procedure and House Affairs Committee on March 18th, 2010

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Well, as far as I have been told, the problem was not that people were refusing to let you go there, but rather that Elections Canada personnel just never went.

[Marc Mayrand]

We are there. I can assure you of that.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

No, I can assure you that it is not what I am being told.

[Marc Mayrand]

All right, I can—

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

I am talking about a lot of people. There are camps that house 5,000 people. There are camps that house 3,000 workers. And these camps are accessible, since the workers themselves have to get there in order to work. They do not go by helicopter. Furthermore, they are not seasonal workers.

[Marc Mayrand]

It depends on the specific situation, but they are accessible to the workers.

As I say, in general terms, we do have programs aimed specifically at work camps, particularly those in Western Canada, but also in the other regions of the country. They can also be mining camps. We stay in touch with the administrators and with company staff hired to manage these sites, to ensure that information gets to these voters.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

I would like you to take another look at this, because I do not agree with what you have said. I am not trying to be mean, but I simply don't agree, because that is not what I have heard out in the field.

I fly out of Bathurst, and every morning when I am boarding the plane, it is full of people going to work out West for two or three months. Some of them don't leave the camps, and only come back for a month. But when there is an election, they don't have that opportunity, unless they go to Edmonton or somewhere like that, which is difficult for them.

[Marc Mayrand]

That probably would be helpful, as I say. I know we have a program and products, and that they are being delivered. However, if there is a particular site which is problematic, it would be helpful for us to know about it, so that we can go and find out exactly what occurred.

In general terms, however, we have a specific program aimed at voters who live in work camps across the country, which kicks in when there is an election. If there are particular sites that we did not get to, I would like to be made aware of that. We go on the boats that travel down the river and to other areas that are more difficult to access. So, we do have programs that are aimed specifically at these workers.

If there are one or more sites that are problematic, or perhaps a specific region, I would like to be given the exact information. I think that would be helpful so that we can follow up.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

I will find out and pass that information on to you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Thank you.

We'll move on to our second round.

Monsieur Proulx, you have five minutes.

[Marcel Proulx, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Mayrand, on page 6 of your brief, you say that you would appreciate an opportunity to engage the Committee, at some point, regarding the conclusions of a feasibility study on adding the voter information card to the list of pieces of identification authorized by the Chief Electoral Officer. As you know, there was some apprehension in that regard in the Committee, on all sides of the table. I am therefore very anxious to hear your recommendations.

Furthermore, with respect to that same suggestion or recommendation, I would like you to consider the problem that arises in seniors' homes, where they are required to show their health insurance card, even though, as a general rule, the people in charge of the home, as opposed to the seniors themselves, are the ones who have those cards in their possession. What happens is that on election day, the administrators often say that they don't have time to do it, that they are busy, that they have sick people to attend to, and so on. As a result, people are not able to vote easily or under the proper conditions.

So, as you are looking at the issue of voter information cards, you may want to consider the situation of these voters. In any case, I can tell you right now that I have a great deal of apprehension about these potential changes.

[Marc Mayrand]

That is a major point.

In every by-election and general election that has been held since the new provisions were introduced, the system has generally worked well. However, we are seeing that small groups of voters are having more difficulty—particularly Aboriginal Canadians, who generally have very few pieces of ID, other than their Registered Indian card, and who also have address-related issues. I am also thinking of seniors who live in homes, and who often do not have access to their own papers.

One example would be long-term care facilities. We do targeted reviews in these centres. We visit them a few days before the election. So, we know who the voters are; they are living in a closed environment. But when we return to collect their ballots one week later, we don't recognize any of them. A solution must be found for that particular problem. We believe that, in these kinds of situations, the voter information card could be an appropriate item to present. The hospital or facility name band is already accepted.

Issues have been raised with respect to these voters groups.

[Marcel Proulx, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

In terms of expenses, as you may recall, I have spoken to you on a number of occasions of an infamous practice at Elections Canada—namely, asking local returning officers to return the documents they have used, once the election is over, so that Elections Canada staff can, in their great wisdom, destroy these documents at head office. I suggested that you try and save money by allowing them to shred the documents locally in the ridings.

Would you please tell us when you will be meeting with us to discuss your recommendations?

[Marc Mayrand]

Certainly. If you like, we can certainly discuss the why and the how of this process, and see whether something can be changed.

[Marcel Proulx, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

It's related to election expenses which, it seems to me, are significant enough that we should have a look at this.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Mr. Reid.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I have a series of questions, returning to the line of questioning that Mr. Poilievre was taking.

One of the issues where you have been in court fighting against the Conservative Party was on the subject of whether you ought or ought not to accept sales tax rebates—GST, HST, and I assume PST as well. What is the total number of dollars at issue in both the action against the Conservative Party—the money they are essentially refusing to collect from the Conservative Party—and what you would have to collect from the other parties vis-à-vis the most recent election and, I assume, several previous elections? What is the total of number of dollars at issue that Elections Canada is trying to not take back in terms of those rebates?

[Marc Mayrand]

In the matter at hand, I believe the amount is somewhere around $550,000 for two elections. These are GST rebates that were received by the party.

I will just point out that Elections Canada has no objection to receiving the money for the benefit of the Receiver General. Our issue--and I think this is the issue that is in dispute before the courts--is how should the return be amended? I think that is where the central dispute is.

With respect to whether other parties would be subjected to the same approach, depending on the outcome from the court at the end, we would have to ask parties to disclose voluntarily which party is getting a GST rebate, for what period, and how much of that rebate accounts for electoral expenses that were reimbursed by Elections Canada.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

So you haven't done any calculations?

[Marc Mayrand]

I don't have any authority.

Sorry, the simple answer--

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

No, no, that's the answer to the question. You've answered it.

So $550,000 from the Conservatives alone, then, essentially is--

[Marc Mayrand]

For two elections.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

For the last two elections.

[Marc Mayrand]

Yes.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

So essentially this goes back two elections. It wouldn't go back to a previous election beyond that.