Procedure and House Affairs Committee on May 26th, 2015

[Jean-Philippe Brochu]

As per the standing orders that will be implemented at the opening of a new Parliament, petitions can only be signed by either a Canadian resident or a Canadian citizen living abroad. People will need to indicate or confirm by self-declaration that they are either living in Canada or Canadians living abroad. That will be part of the terms of use.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

I'm a bit concerned in regard to the actual wording of that because I think it could be interpreted in a negative fashion. Whether I'm a permanent resident of Canada or a citizen of Canada, technically both have equal rights with the exception of being able to vote and get a Canadian passport. I don't want to see us creating something that would give the perception of a two-tier resident here in Canada. I don't know how it could be fixed, but I would use that as a suggestion.

How does a member of Parliament that wants to be involved in a petition...? Is there an option for a member of Parliament to go onto the site and say, “I really like this”? Is there any way in which they can directly be affiliated with that petition?

[André Gagnon]

When a petition is on the website, it has already been sponsored by an MP. It's already ready to be signed, so you would not be able to go on the petition and say, “That's a petition I really like,” and sign it, for instance, or be a sponsor, because the sponsor has already been identified.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Okay. Now, in terms of the Standing Orders, there are a few standing orders that have to be changed, and we've dealt with all that, Mr. Chair, I assume, in terms of all the standing order changes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Yes, in the report.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Wonderful. That's it for me. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Sounds like you're revved up and ready to go with a number of petitions, Mr. Lamoureux.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

I want to be ready.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

I'll remind you that you'll need five friends.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Mr. Scott, and then Mr. Christopherson....

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

Could we possibly see the box that Kevin was concerned about? I think it's a single box. It says citizen or permanent resident so it doesn't distinguish. It says, “I am a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada.” It's “or”, so there's no distinction.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

A permanent resident in Canada might feel insulted. Well, does that mean...?

[A voice]

Why?

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

It's the same box, though. They don't choose one or the other.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

You check that one box there.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

So where does it have the international...or the person living abroad?

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

You can't sign from offshore unless you click the box saying you are a Canadian citizen.

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

And it's the electronic system that picks up the fact that you're doing it from outside.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

The IP address should tell us whether the computer is outside of the country or not.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

I caught the comments but I didn't quite see it. I just raised some concerns about it being a drop-down, but that would be it.

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

That's the reason I've asked. I think it's okay for your concern because nobody's being totally identified as being one or the other.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

That was the primary concern. Thank you.

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

Then the only other question was test-run procedures. Do you plan to have any MP involvement in just playing around with it at a certain point in order to see that it's functioning or to find any glitches?

[André Gagnon]

Usually whenever we put a new system in place, there is extensive testing taking place in the House. That's part of the regular process to put in place such a system. From the beginning we didn't have that in mind, specifically. This coincides with the election period, so the initial working plan was really to get into it inside and do extensive testing. Through the training process and the communication plan, at that time, we'll certainly be able to provide members with a good indication of what it looks like, how it works, and information sessions throughout.