Procedure and House Affairs Committee on Sept. 25th, 2018

[Stéphane Perrault]

At present, Canadians abroad need to register. We have an international register of Canadians abroad, and they need to make an application. We maintain that register on an ongoing basis. When people apply, they need to prove their citizenship with a passport. We essentially require evidence of citizenship when you are abroad, for natural and obvious reasons.

In general, under the current rules, Canadians abroad can vote if they've been residing abroad for less than five years and intend to return to Canada. These are two of the basic criteria. There are other exceptions for military, for example, or foreign affairs.

[Stephanie Kusie]

How do you prove intention to return?

[Stéphane Perrault]

It's merely a declaration. There's no way to prove it apart from the declaration, which we take in good faith. The return may not materialize, but the point is that at the time of making the application, a person must have the intention to return.

We keep information about those Canadians, and when they're getting closer to the five-year point, or the “anniversary date” as we call it, we ask them whether they've returned to Canada at some point to reside here, which ensures that they are not unnecessarily removed from the international register. If they don't respond or have not returned to Canada, they are taken off that register after the five-year period currently stipulated in the act.

[Stephanie Kusie]

Do you have concerns regarding how the bill is structured with respect to the changes in those requirements? Do you see any problem with the changes?

[Stéphane Perrault]

This is largely a key policy decision, to expand the right to vote. I do not stand against that. This is a matter before the courts as well.

From a logistics point of view, we can handle the regime as it is proposed in Bill C-76, so people would be voting at their former place of residence in Canada. We would no longer require an intention to return to Canada. We would no longer track how long they've been away from Canada.

We do not expect a huge number of voters. We've done a number of different extrapolations, and we'll see how that goes. Our expectation is that there will be roughly 30,000 voters from abroad. We have the capacity to handle much more. If I'm not mistaken, we had 11,000 foreign voters in the last election, and we expect it to reach about 30,000.

[Stephanie Kusie]

There is no necessity to demonstrate the intention to return. What would be the requirement for last place of residency? How would they demonstrate that?

[Stéphane Perrault]

It would be the information we had on the register when they were registered in Canada, or some information they would provide to us.

[Stephanie Kusie]

What information is required for them to register? Would that include a utility bill, for instance, or is it only what they vouched as their last place of residence? Is there a declaration as well?

[Anne Lawson, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, Regulatory Affairs, Elections Canada]

I'd have to look it up, but I don't think proof is required.

Michel, do you know the answer?

[Michel Roussel]

No. If the elector is on the register of electors, he or she may have appeared on our voters list through our administrative sources in the past.

[Stephanie Kusie]

Okay. We're not certain they're going to return, and we're not entirely certain where they may have potentially resided last, but we'll be confident they are Canadian citizens. They are still required to present a piece of information, like a passport. Having served as a consular officer for 15 years in the foreign service, I certainly have confidence in that aspect. They will have to provide a piece of identification that indicates they are Canadian citizens. Is that correct?

[Stéphane Perrault]

Yes, that's a requirement we impose based on the powers we have in the act. We want to make sure we have proof of citizenship.

In terms of the register of electors and the location of individuals, as my colleagues have indicated, if they've been previously registered—and there are many ways to be registered in Canada—they may have had to demonstrate their registration, or we may have that information from a provincial or municipal election. There are different ways to be identified under the current rules with respect to residing in a particular location in Canada, and they would not be able to change that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

Thank you very much.

I will now give the floor to Ms. Lapointe.

[Linda Lapointe, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, Lib.]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I am really happy to be here today. This is the first time I will be asking questions at this committee.

For information purposes, I was wondering how many times you have come to give evidence on Bill C-76.

[Stéphane Perrault]

This is the third time. Actually, the last time I appeared officially was regarding this bill. Obviously, when I was appointed, I was asked quite a few questions about Bill C-76. We had already started covering this ground and, a few weeks later, I appeared officially to speak to this bill. So today is the third time.

[Linda Lapointe]

Okay, thank you.

Bill C-76 deals with campaign spending limits. It will affect the parties, as well as associations. I wonder if you could provide some more details on this, especially since this is a very hot topic in the bill.

[Stéphane Perrault]

There have been a number of changes to spending limits, and the impact of these changes is going to be rather complex.

I would say that third parties are going to be affected the most. First of all, some limits are being imposed on third parties before the election and others during the election. Also, the kinds of activities covered will go beyond simple advertising. It will now cover partisan activities and polls. In addition, third parties will have to produce various reports. They have a fundamentally new system, compared to what they had in the past. The limits are going to increase. The current legislation talks about $150,000, but once the amount is indexed, it amounts to about $350,000, if I'm not mistaken, in the case of a general election. That amount is going up to $1 million, but that will include activities that were not regulated in the past.

[Linda Lapointe]

Are you talking about political parties?

[Stéphane Perrault]

I am still talking about third parties. That applies to third parties.

[Linda Lapointe]

Okay.

[Stéphane Perrault]

There are two important changes that apply to political parties.

[Linda Lapointe]

Who would be a third party? Can you give me an example?

[Stéphane Perrault]

A third party is basically someone who is not a party, candidate or riding association. It could be any ordinary citizen, union, or special interest group.

[Linda Lapointe]

Okay.

[Stéphane Perrault]

It is usually people who might want—