Evidence of meeting #81 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 election.
A video is available from Parliament.
May 7th, 2015 / 11:05 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
We will call our meeting to order. We have two different subjects today and we have Monsieur Mayrand here on both of them.
We're happy to have you here for both sessions today. You have an opening statement, I would think, and then we'll have questions from members.
Members, if you'd like to be on the question list, by all means get your names in early and often.
We will go ahead and start. Please introduce the people you have with you. We're starting on estimates. Am I right?
11:05 a.m.
Conservative
11:05 a.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
Thank you, Mr. Chair, for inviting me to discuss the 2015-16 main estimates for my office.
I am accompanied today by Stéphane Perrault, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, Regulatory Affairs. I am also accompanied by Hugues St-Pierre, Chief Financial and Planning Officer, as well as Belaineh Deguefé, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, Integrated Services, Policy and Public Affairs.
Today, the committee is studying our annual appropriation, which is $29.2 million. This represents the salaries of approximately 350 full-time-equivalent employees. Combined with our statutory authority, which funds all other expenditures under the Canada Elections Act, our 2015-16 main estimates total $396 million.
This includes $317 million for the October 19 election. In total and over four fiscal years, the cost of the 2015 general election is estimated at some $375 million. A number of factors may influence actual expenses, such as the duration of the campaign; the level of spending by political entities; adjustments to election worker fees and allowances; and prevailing market conditions for advertising and for the rental of local offices, furniture and equipment.
My office has just completed a three-year cycle of election preparation, modernizing its technological infrastructure and its approach to communications, and enhancing field training programs and business processes to respond to the ever-increasing expectations of voters and candidates that the electoral process be both accessible and trustworthy. We will be deploying resources progressively and just in time for the call for the October 19 election.
Returning officers will be instructed to rent their offices for September 1. That window of two weeks before local offices are open to the public will enable us to set up field equipment, including computers and telephones. Over the summer months, final preparations, including hiring and training key personnel, printing materials, and releasing pre-election advertising aimed at encouraging voter registration, will be completed. These activities are monitored closely so as to avoid unnecessary incremental costs.
During the upcoming election, electors will benefit from a number of new or improved services.
Elections Canada has established an online service that allows electors to verify, update or complete their voter registration. The ability for electors to do so before they arrive at the polls may contribute to improving the accuracy of the voters lists used on election day. We expect that it will also reduce the number of electors who have to register to vote at the polls on election day.
We have also made a number of changes to allow electors to vote in a timely manner. Polling stations will now have a “fast lane” for registered electors who have the required identification and are ready to vote. Another lane will be set aside for electors who require additional procedures, like registering at the polls or having another elector attest to their residence.
In order to improve accessibility leading up to the 2015 election, Elections Canada worked with the disability community to identify 35 accessibility standards that returning officers will apply to select voting locations. Information about the extent to which polling stations are accessible will be included on voter information cards and on Elections Canada's website. Electors will be able to contact returning officer in advance to inquire about accessibility and to make special arrangements if required. Moreover, electors will have more opportunities to vote, with an additional day of advanced polls and special ballot voting at Elections Canada satellite offices in 56 institutions across the country, including college and university campuses, YMCAs, and aboriginal friendship centres.
As per the document on the electoral reminder program that I shared with the committee earlier this week, frequent reminders will be issued using a variety of vehicles to advise electors on when, where, and how to register and vote. Elections Canada will also focus on reaching out to electors before the issue of the writs through targeted promotion of online registration, as part of its effort to increase registration before electors arrive at the polls.
Following the 41st general election, Elections Canada began working towards improving its ability to respond to electoral incidents that may interfere with voter participation. In this regard, we will monitor the election environment to be better prepared to detect and respond quickly to any incidents that threaten the integrity of the election.
We have also undertaken a number of initiatives to improve how poll workers follow procedures known to be complex. Some of these initiatives include enhanced recruitment practices, modernized training, simplified procedures, and clearer instructions for elections workers. We have also renewed the role of central poll supervisors, who will be able to provide guidance to staff at the polling station and ensure that procedures are followed.
We have also launched a procurement process for the independent audit of poll worker performance introduced by Bill C-23. The agency is currently awaiting bids from interested parties. This process should be completed by the end of July, in time for the fall election.
In the 14 months following the election, I will publish three reports to provide a comprehensive perspective on the event. First, a factual chronology of the election will be published in early 2016 within 90 days of the return of the writs. This first report will include the measures taken by Elections Canada to improve the accuracy of the lists of electors.
In June 2016, a second report will present a retrospective of the 2015 election, drawing on the experience of electors and candidates. This report will include the official poll-by-poll voting results and the conclusions of the independent audit of poll worker performance.
By December 2016, I aim to table a final report that will recommend administrative and legislative improvements.
Mr. Chair, this brings me to the end of my remarks in relation to the main estimates. My colleagues and I are happy to answer any questions the committee might have.
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
Thank you.
We will go to seven-minute rounds of questions. We'll start with Mr. Lukiwski.
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski Conservative Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK
Thank you very much.
Monsieur Mayrand, thank you very much to you and your officials for being here.
I have a few questions based on your presentation. First, I notice that you say, “Returning officers will be instructed to rent their offices for September 1.” The election is scheduled for October 19. I know that the minimum writ period is 36 or 37 days. It could be much longer than that. What happens if it's a long writ?
11:10 a.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
We would have to adjust accordingly. Normally, the writ, if it's a standard minimum period, would be issued on September 13.
11:10 a.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
If it were to be issued earlier than that, we would do as we've done in the past. Again, sites for offices have been identified by returning officers. We would have to quickly move to signing leases and proceed as we've done in the past.
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski Conservative Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK
Are you saying, then, sir, that you already have all the office locations identified?
11:10 a.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
They are identified as we go, and it's permanently reviewed. Some sites may be lost; others are found as alternatives.
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski Conservative Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK
Out of curiosity, what is the maximum period for a writ? I noticed, for example, the three byelections that you say are scheduled for October 19. We're six months out from an election. Does that mean we're in a pre-writ period for those three byelections?
11:10 a.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
No. We're into the writ period for these byelections.
11:10 a.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
There are byelections ongoing right now. I think it will be a 170-day writ period for those byelections. They would be superseded when the call for the general election is made.
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski Conservative Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK
That's interesting. I probably should know this—maybe we all should know this—but I thought it was always that the Governor General, after consultation with the Prime Minister, established or dropped the writ.
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski Conservative Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK
But you announced these three byelections. Is that correct?
11:10 a.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
It was at the request of the Governor General, and the Governor General sets the date of the elections.
11:10 a.m.
NDP
David Christopherson NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
I was just asking Craig exactly the same question, because the media reported that it was Elections Canada, and I thought, “Really? Do they have the right to just initiate an election whenever they decide?” But it's the GG and PM.
11:10 a.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
I can assure you that we're not there—
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski Conservative Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK
Actually, I'm glad the intervention came from David, because I think we were all wondering the same thing: who's running the show here?