Procedure and House Affairs Committee on May 7th, 2015

[Marc Mayrand]

Yes.

[Craig Scott, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

There's another issue. I'm getting technical here, but hopefully we'll also have your staff who we can call back later for the more technical stuff. In my reading of this, the references are to entities, governments, and agencies. Rental leases, which are one of the more common forms that students will often use to show address, can often be issued by individual landlords—persons not incorporated. Are they entities under this new provision? Will you be allowed to use a lease from somebody—me, for example—or do you have to be in an organized corporate form of some kind?

[Marc Mayrand]

First of all, I'm not sure that entities include physical persons. I doubt it. Unless it's there in the act, but I doubt it. These new criteria would apply only to non-physical entities, non-human entities, if I can use that expression.

[Craig Scott, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

That's my reading too, so that kind of rental lease would not be possible.

Also, just to confirm what you've already said, “formed in Canada” is not a concept that is clearly used or clearly known to Canadian law. You would agree with that?

[Marc Mayrand]

Yes. I'm not aware that it's a legal concept.

[Craig Scott, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

The last thing is that it's important to note that whatever “form” means, the word “incorporated” in Canada, for the kinds of documentation that can be used now, that you're limited to allowing...the idea of being incorporated is not a necessary outcome of operating in Canada, correct? You can have corporations or bodies operating in Canada that have their formal legal existence from another legal system.

[Marc Mayrand]

They're foreign. Exactly. A foreign corporation can carry on business in Canada.

[Craig Scott, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Exactly, so the bottom line is that whatever the reasons were for this—and I believe the reasons are that the minister was trying to find a formulation that excluded any documents from being issued from outside of Canada because I think he was trying to get at I think the fictitious concerns he has about how identity would be approved abroad—in the process we've created a monster, a Frankenstein's monster of a provision that you now have testified could cause serious problems at the polls in Canada. Is that correct?

[Marc Mayrand]

Yes, I'm concerned that no one will be clear as to what are the documents that are acceptable for establishing ID or not acceptable. Depending on the circumstances, it may give rise to all sorts of disputes during voting but also after the voting period.

[Craig Scott, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Right. Thank you.

The last question—

[Marc Mayrand]

That's why I implore the committee to look at how it can best be clarified to avoid future disputes.

[Craig Scott, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

I hope we will.

Lastly, is there anything in the bill that says that the vouching declarations, apart from the problem of whether they're statutory or not, can be done in advance of the election and be ready to be sent to the voter outside? Or do they themselves also only have to be done once the writ drops, which adds an extra layer of delay?

[Marc Mayrand]

I'll have to double-check that. The one thing that comes to my mind is that in some cases you need to have the polling division, and you may not know that until a few days after the writ is issued. It would be difficult to do.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Mr. MacKenzie, please, for four minutes.

[Dave MacKenzie, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

I know that one of the issues that has been brought up a couple of times, not only here—I think by Mr. Simms—but in the House, is the issue of military families. Having military family as part of my family, I have the sense that the part dealing with members of the military covers a whole range of military activities outside the country. Many of these people would be on the battlefield or in an office. It is illogical that you would necessarily have the same rules for families who may be at a base somewhere far removed, and they have the opportunity to do that.

Is it your sense, too, that you're dealing with two different bodies, a military person who may be—

[Marc Mayrand]

The military has special circumstances and they are governed by a different regime. The purpose of the international register was to allow their relatives who accompanied them to also have some mechanism to ensure that they can return their ballots on time.

[Dave MacKenzie, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

Sure, and that's reasonable. They are not in the field, as the member of the military may be.

[Marc Mayrand]

No, but they may be living on the base with their spouse.

[Dave MacKenzie, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

Yes, but they have access to....

[Marc Mayrand]

Yes, they do, but now it will be more difficult. I just wanted to point that out.

[Dave MacKenzie, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

Thank you.

I saw the same number of 10,000, plus or minus a little bit. I also saw that about 6,000 people, plus or minus, exercise that right to vote.

[Marc Mayrand]

Yes, roughly.

[Dave MacKenzie, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

I think that's probably not far off national averages on voting.

[Marc Mayrand]

Yes, and if the committee is interested, I could provide a table for the last few elections as to the distribution.

[Dave MacKenzie, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

I appreciate that.

Do you have a record of where those 10,000 people who are on the registry reside? Are they spread equally across the globe, in the sense that there is a large number in the United States and a large number in Great Britain?