Mr. Chair, thank you for inviting me back once again to appear before the committee today.
I am accompanied by Mr. Stéphane Perrault, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer for Legal Services, Compliance and Investigations.
I believe I clearly made my position on the privilege motion you are considering when I appeared before you in December. I will not repeat myself, other than to remind you that I take no specific position on the question of privilege that you are debating.
As I noted in my previous appearance, when I write to the Speaker pursuant to subsection 463(2), it is simply to inform him of a situation in which an elected candidate has either not submitted a document as required under the act or has failed to make correction as requested or authorized.
Subsection 463(2) of the act provides that in either of these situations, a member shall not continue to sit or vote as a member.
As I indicated in December, I take no position on whether a member of Parliament should continue to sit in the House of Commons despite the wording of subsection 463(2). This is a matter of parliamentary privilege.
My aim in writing to the Speaker is to acquaint him with the relevant provision of the Canada Elections Act in order that he may do whatever he deems best in the situation.
As you know, I wrote again to the Speaker with respect to subsection 463(2) in the case of the member of Selkirk—Interlake, Mr. James Bezan, and informed the Speaker that subsection 463(2) no longer applies in the case of Mr. Bezan since he has now filed corrections under the act and I have accepted them.
In addition, further to the request made by a member during my last appearance, I have submitted to the committee the letters that were sent to the Speaker after previous elections, pursuant to subsection 463(2).
These letters demonstrate a consistent approach on the part of the agency, including by my predecessor, to inform the Speaker in situations where there has been non-compliance with the filing requirement of the act on the part of a candidate from various parties.
It has been the practice of the chief electoral officer since at least 2001 to inform the Speaker in this manner.
That concludes my remarks, Mr. Chair, and I will be happy to answer any questions.