Evidence of meeting #9 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was formula.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Harold Albrecht Conservative Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
Just to clarify, is that primarily based on the size of those provinces? You indicated that the smaller provinces will probably be ahead of the game in terms of reporting back. So can I assume...?
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
Historically it's been the larger provinces that took a little bit more time. But again, in the last redistribution exercise, 10 years ago, they all did it within 12 months. Three or four of them required a little bit longer than 11 months. The act provides that if they go over 10 months, under the new rules they can still get a two-month extension.
Conservative
Harold Albrecht Conservative Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
They get a two-month extension. Okay. Thank you.
Those are all my questions, Mr. Chair.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
Thank you.
You're all being very efficient with your time today.
Mr. Christopherson, do you have any questions?
NDP
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
Mr. Mayrand, I went through this myself back in the 2004 round.
Dropping the commencement of public hearings from 60 days to 30 days means that people getting ready for those hearings, whether they are constituents or members of Parliament, have to do it within a much shorter timeline.
I'll speak from the experience I had with an adjoining riding, which was difficult, because I was taking some of her riding. She was an experienced member of Parliament, and we had good riding associations, but it still took us much longer than 30 days to get ready for those public hearings. I just don't know how practical it is to expect that we're going to get meaningful participation from the general public, from riding associations, and from members of Parliament when the government is reducing that to 30 days from 60 days. I was wondering if you could comment on that, from your experience.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
It still provides some leeway to the commission. Under the current act, the commissions have to wait 60 days. Now they only have to wait 30 days to see what submissions are coming in. If there are enough, they can start their public hearings. It doesn't mean that everybody has to have filed their objections within 30 days. Those who would need a little bit more time can ask the commission for more time, and I'm pretty sure the commission will agree to that.
NDP
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
It would require whoever needed that extra time, whether it was an individual or a group, to make a formal application to extend the time.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
Those who want to make representation must give notice to the commission seven days before the start of the hearings.
NDP
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
Are there criteria you would see for a two-month extension for the report from the commission? I think you were responding in part to Mr. Albrecht's question. Again, the commission would have to meet to get it extended. How do you get the extra two months?
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
It's flexible in that regard. If the commission needs more time, again, within those two months, we will--
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
I guess what I'm really asking is whether there are set criteria.
NDP
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
I want to go back to the timelines again.
Right now, if we stay with the existing timelines, your office would have roughly two years to get ready for the next election. I think I saw somewhere in your notes that you estimated that six to seven months is the time you would need to get ready once the seats have been redistributed. Am I right on that time?
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
Under the new limits, seven months is the minimum time required before a general election takes place.
NDP
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
All right.
In terms of that—I'm not sure I want to give you this opening—what would be an average time you would need? I don't mean a minimum time. What would be the average time you would use in advance of a general election to get ready?
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
Do you mean following a redistribution?
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
Again, in the past it's been between nine and 12 months, except for the previous redistribution in 2001, which was done, with some heroic effort, within seven months.
NDP
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
All right.
If we passed a bill through the House really quickly, in the next week or month, that backed up all the existing legislation and backed up all the timelines they are required to meet, if we did that for a year, you'd still have a year's time to get ready for the election.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
If it's delayed, yes, we would. It depends on where the commissions are at, because again, the old process carries on.
Let's say the commissions complete all of their work. They send their reports, report back, and finalize their report, and we're ready to proceed with a proclamation order. If royal assent were given after that, we would have to start from scratch, and the next election would be done under the old formula.
