Evidence of meeting #43 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was elections.
A video is available from Parliament.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
Our core operating budget is roughly close to $60 million. The $97 million includes other costs which are transferred, payments to parties and associations and all of these things. Aside from that, the cost of the last election was roughly $290 million.
Again, as I mentioned to the committee, we need to factor in a few variables now, and I'd like to come back to the committee to propose an initial budget in the fall.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
That's a great idea.
Mr. Butt, thank you very much. I'm sure they'll be happy to have you drop by anytime, now that you know where the office is.
Mr. Scott, go ahead for four minutes.
NDP
Craig Scott NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Monsieur Mayrand, for coming again to the committee.
I hope when you come in the fall, you might be able to address the following questions.
Some of the concerns coming out of Bill C-23 were that we might end up with some unexpected bottlenecks and challenges at the polls. Voter information cards will no longer be able to be used. It could be that we end up with even more vouching in 2015 than we had in 2011. Vouching for address has been restored—it's in the new bill—but people will not be able to prove address with the voter information card. It's reasonable to assume that more people might well need to be vouched for than was even the case in 2011. That takes resources,and it takes training, and there could potentially be bottlenecks in areas where that's most likely.
The second thing is that Bill C-23 includes the right of scrutineers effectively to challenge, to see but not handle identification, with very unclear rules about what happens when they don't like what they see. There is a practice in certain jurisdictions for that to be aggressively used as a right by scrutineers and it can create lineups.
I'm hoping that Elections Canada can take into consideration these kinds of scenarios in planning their budget. I'd be grateful for any information on that in the fall. If you have any comments now, that's fine. Otherwise, it's just a request for the future.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
We are looking at all aspects of how we put into operation the new legislation. You've mentioned some of them. With regard to the examination of pieces of ID, we will probably have to issue—I'm not sure yet—an instruction to poll workers or a guideline under the new act, to make sure that the voting is not disrupted.
I will come back in the fall on these matters, on how we can alleviate them and whether there are administrative measures that can reinforce the objective of the legislation and at the same time smoothen the administrative process.
NDP
Craig Scott NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON
Thank you. I will mention one last thing.
This is not technically—I realize it doesn't cost; it's just a little bit more ink. But one issue came up in the amendments phase of Bill C-23. Given that we in opposition and the official opposition had lost the fight to retain the voter information cards, we were greatly concerned that the 800,000 to 900,000 people officially authorized to use them in a number of settings in 2011 will well remember that and not necessarily know that the rules have changed. We moved for an amendment to have the VIC prominently stamped with a very clear message to say it cannot be used, that it's an aid, etc.
Can we possibly make sure that it's very prominent? Otherwise it will cause confusion.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
It is. It's already there in bold and in colour. But we'll see.
NDP
Craig Scott NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON
Exactly. But the point is that people will remember, so please make sure the message is not.... The message that's written there is a tiny bit ambiguous about whether it can be used for voting.
Mr. Reid made some very good points during committee about when the VIC is issued. At what stage of finality is the list that generates the VIC? Is the final list that Elections Canada produces during an election the basis for generating VICs or is it a previous version? Can VICs be issued later in the list-making process?
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
Oh, that's very technical.
The VICs are based on the preliminary list as well as revisions that occur during elections. Electors will get the VIC. The revision closes on day six, which is after the advance polls. There are a few days left to prepare the final list used at the poll. Those who are not on that list still have the option to register at the poll. That's where we want to target our efforts, to try to better inform electors of the importance of registering prior to polling day.
Conservative
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON
Yes, if you don't mind, very briefly.
If you take a look at the commissioner's report, “Summary Investigation Report on Robocalls”, you will see that he deals with this exact question: what you do when information comes out on a VIC that is.... In his, it's actually slightly different. It's not the identity of the person that they have down incorrectly; it's that the poll got moved as a result of a flood or a fire or that kind of thing.
You can read what he has to say. As is usual with his reports, it's very businesslike and intelligent, but it just raises the point that these things are imperfect instruments, for a variety of reasons.
Conservative
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski Conservative Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK
Yes. It wasn't actually anything for Monsieur Mayrand. It was merely for the benefit of the committee, since we will be departing here shortly. I'm not sure if you've set aside any time for committee business. Are we coming back here after votes? Is there any other business, or do we adjourn?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
As you know, I take my guidance from the committee on things like that. We did have some committee business set aside for today. If we want to come back after votes, we could do it. If not, we can deal with it on Tuesday when we return.
Mr. Reid.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON
Were we not going to have the Clerk of the House here today?
Conservative
Conservative
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski Conservative Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK
I don't think even Audrey knows when she's....
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
Before we finish this, we still have our guests with us.
Alexandrine, you have one quick question. I'll let you ask it real fast, and then we'll move on, thank our guests for being here, and invite them back in the fall.
NDP
Alexandrine Latendresse NDP Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
I have a quick question about Bill C-21, dealing with loans to political parties.
In committee, you said that the common limit for loans and donations really is a problem. From what I understand about Bill C-23, it comes up again. The limit has been increased to $1,500. Bill C-21 has been sort of integrated into it all. At the moment, loans and donations have the same limit.
Have you thought about mechanisms to tackle that matter? I do not have the exact quotation, but I remember that you said that it could cause a number of problems.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
It raises administrative difficulties for Elections Canada and for political entities.
The two go hand in hand. For example, a person making a $1,500 loan, of which $300 is reimbursed, could then turn that $300 into a donation. We have to follow the money, loans and donations alike, to make sure that the total does not exceed $1,500. That can be difficult to do.
We are looking at it to see what kind of system we are going to establish. It will be quite difficult for political organizations too.
