Procedure and House Affairs Committee on May 28th, 2018

Evidence of meeting #106 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was elections.

A video is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

Bill C-76
Committee Business

MPs speaking

Larry Bagnell
Karina Gould
Scott Simms
Blake Richards
Nathan Cullen
Chris Bittle
David Graham
Scott Reid
Filomena Tassi
Karen Vecchio
Mark Gerretsen
Andy Fillmore
Bev Shipley

Also speaking

Andre Barnes  Committee Researcher
Allen Sutherland  Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Machinery of Government, Privy Council Office
Manon Paquet  Senior Policy Advisor, Privy Council Office
Jean-François Morin  Senior Policy Advisor, Privy Council Office
Clerk of the Committee  Mr. Andrew Lauzon
Stéphane Perrault  Acting Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
Anne Lawson  General Counsel and Senior Director, Legal Services, Elections Canada

4:50 p.m.

Conservative

Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON

He might or might not want to. It's not hard to imagine a situation in which a seat becomes vacant a fairly short time before royal assent is anticipated on the bill. It might or might not be reasonable. I'm not actually trying to figure if it would be reasonable—that's a political consideration. I'm wondering about....

4:50 p.m.

Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Machinery of Government, Privy Council Office

Allen Sutherland

Just what would apply.

4:50 p.m.

Conservative

Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON

Yes, what would apply.

4:50 p.m.

Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Machinery of Government, Privy Council Office

Allen Sutherland

Yes, and that's all I'm trying to answer for you.

We can get back to you on this if you like, but my impression of it is that if the seat becomes vacant but the Prime Minister has not yet called the by-election, then once the legislation is in force, it's in force, and then it would be subject to the rules.

4:50 p.m.

Conservative

Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON

All right. I think I've got that. If you could get back with a confirmation, I'd appreciate it.

4:50 p.m.

Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Machinery of Government, Privy Council Office

Allen Sutherland

Okay.

4:50 p.m.

Conservative

Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON

We started this discussion on registered third parties and their spending during the election period. I think I'm right that the spending is a flat rate and it's not pro-rated to the length of the writ period.

4:50 p.m.

Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Machinery of Government, Privy Council Office

Allen Sutherland

Correct.

4:55 p.m.

Conservative

Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON

May I inquire as to the logic of that? There is still some variation in the logic of writ periods.

4:55 p.m.

Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Machinery of Government, Privy Council Office

Allen Sutherland

Are you referring to the third party spending?

4:55 p.m.

Conservative

Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON

Yes.

4:55 p.m.

Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Machinery of Government, Privy Council Office

Allen Sutherland

It's not calibrated to the length of the campaign. Are you saying between the 37 and the 50 days?

4:55 p.m.

Conservative

Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON

That's actually a relatively large variation if you stop and think about it.

4:55 p.m.

Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Machinery of Government, Privy Council Office

Allen Sutherland

I think the argument would be simplicity.

4:55 p.m.

Conservative

Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON

I'm sorry?

4:55 p.m.

Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Machinery of Government, Privy Council Office

Allen Sutherland

It would be simplicity.

It's a clear number, so you have the $500,000—

4:55 p.m.

Conservative

Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON

It's just easier to keep track of.

4:55 p.m.

Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Machinery of Government, Privy Council Office

Allen Sutherland

Yes.

4:55 p.m.

Conservative

Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON

Forgive me, but how much time do I have left? One minute?

I think I'm in a situation where the question and the answer could not be done properly in a minute, so why don't we wait and proceed with this in a future round.

4:55 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Larry Bagnell

Okay.

Mr. Cullen.

4:55 p.m.

NDP

Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you to our guests.

Third parties are defined as a person or a group who engage in advertising, other than a candidate, political party, or an EDA.

Is that right?

4:55 p.m.

Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Machinery of Government, Privy Council Office

Allen Sutherland

That sounds right. I think it's the law.

4:55 p.m.

NDP

Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC

Does it apply to other types of spending that third parties might be interested in doing in the course of a pre-writ period or writ period?

4:55 p.m.

Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Machinery of Government, Privy Council Office

Allen Sutherland

It varies. I think it's important to differentiate between the pre-writ and the writ periods.

4:55 p.m.

NDP

Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC

Okay, let's take them in their parts.

I guess what I'm specifically asking about is that the limits that are being placed at any point—the amounts—are limits on exclusively advertising, or is it anything we would deem to be a political action?