Evidence of meeting #35 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site.) The winning word was advertising.
A video is available from Parliament.
Senior Officer and Counsel, Privy Council Office
The hiring of elections officers is done by the returning officer.
NDP
David Christopherson NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
I do believe you're trying to be helpful. I appreciate it. Thank you.
Can you discern for me the difference between the existing process and in the same language versus what the amendment would do, the difference in the process that the CEO and/or the commissioner have to go through?
Senior Officer and Counsel, Privy Council Office
Right now in the Canada Elections Act, there's an implicit contracting authority. The Chief Electoral Officer doesn't have an explicit contracting authority, so the bill would make his ability to contract for services an explicit provision. The clause that's proposed in the bill is a clause that's standard in a lot of government entities, including some of the agents of Parliament that are part of the executive, like the Chief Electoral Officer. In other words, the Commissioner of Official Languages and the privacy and the information commissioners have this type of clause.
NDP
David Christopherson NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
I'm not going to pretend I got it, but I will let the debate go on, and we'll take it from there. It still seems to me that the key issue is that they have certain rights on their own right now with certain parameters with those rights. They're now being limited by virtue of having to go to Treasury Board where right now they don't have to go to Treasury Board, and Treasury Board is a political instrument of government. That's my point.
How far wrong have I got it in saying it that way?
Senior Officer and Counsel, Privy Council Office
It's just again, right now, his ability to enter into contracts for personal services is implicit. There's nothing in the act that regulates it, so they've developed a practice over the years. Right now, we're making it an explicit provision in the act that he can enter into such contracts for professional services and a standard clause that is also found for other agents of Parliament is being used to give him that ability.
Craig Scott NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON
I have just one quick follow-up question. Is it the case that the Auditor General Act doesn't yet have that clause?
Senior Officer and Counsel, Privy Council Office
I believe the Auditor General Act has a clause that allows him to enter into technical and specialized services to obtain that, but I believe there is no requirement for the rates of pay to be approved by the Treasury Board.
NDP
Craig Scott NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON
With that, I'm just hoping that the government's next change to the so-called standard clause doesn't affect the Auditor General. We have to make distinctions between different kinds of offices of Parliament when it comes to the importance of at least not increasing the incursion of the executive in approving. Given the relationship between the current government and maybe future governments and Elections Canada, the all-important ability to hire temporary specialists, the idea of giving over that authority, even if it's standard in some other context, to the Treasury Board is extremely worrisome.
It's worrisome to me that the minister would not answer the question, would not promise not to use the power. I'll leave it at that.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
We have all three of these collectively, LIB-7, NDP-15, PV-17. A vote on one is all.
We'll have a recorded vote on LIB-7.
(Amendment negatived: nays 5; yeas 4 [See Minutes of Proceedings])
It's defeated, which really does them all.
I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to make a ruling on PV-18.
Green
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
You're going to withdraw it. Well, that makes my life easier, doesn't it? I don't have to look like the bad guy. You're trying to keep my good image out there. I like that.
I'll call the question on clause 10.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
We'll have a recorded vote on clause 10.
(Clause 10 agreed to: yeas 5; nays 4)
(On clause 11)
We start off with LIB-8.
Mr. Simms.
Liberal
Scott Simms Liberal Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL
Mr. Chair, I was actually quite inspired by, and read a couple of times, the witness testimony from Mr. Casey, which I believe Mr. Rathgeber referred to as well.
The amendment states:
The Chief Electoral Officer may appoint, to the Advisory Committee of Political Parties, up to two independent members—
I think it's something long overdue. I think we need to recognize the fact that there has been and always will be a presence of independent members in our House, and I think they should be represented as such.
Earlier I did vote in favour of Mr. Rathgeber's motion about campaign financing and allowing them to raise money outside of the writ period, so if I were to vote against this, I think I'd be contradicting myself. I do think this is a modest measure, and one which I think will serve the advisory quite well.
Thank you.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
I have a ruling on this, Mr. Simms. You're asking for something that may require a royal recommendation, because we have to pay these people.
Liberal
Scott Simms Liberal Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL
They might be enthusiastic enough to do it for free. I'm just saying.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
There you go, “might”.
Do we know if the people on the advisory committee of political parties are remunerated for being on it?
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski Conservative Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK
Chair, we had that discussion at committee. If you recall, I had sent a letter trying to determine that. We determined that Sheila Fraser—
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
It's not the special advisory committee. It's the political parties.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
This is the advisory committee of political parties that the Chief Electoral Officer meets with from time to time.
