I first became aware of this issue reading the testimony of Mr. Mayrand. I agree, it does cause some confusion. The issue for me is, as a legal matter, we want to avoid disputes after the election. We want to avoid uncertainty at the polls that cause people to have to go to court. As a lawyer, if you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail, so lawyers often say going to court is the answer. It isn't in an electoral context, because it can potentially undermine the confidence of voters in how the system works. We want to get it right the first time.
I think the Chief Electoral Officer is absolutely correct to say there's some uncertainty here, just as there is with some of the ID provisions in the act. There might be confusion among voters, and we want to avoid that as much as possible because it can lead to legal challenges afterwards and confusion about who is the member of Parliament for a particular riding.