Procedure and House Affairs Committee on April 21st, 2016

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Do you think that inability to do voter education of those who are eligible voters might have had an impact on, for instance, these 175,000 people who didn't have the proper ID, or others who may have tried to vote and not been able to or who maybe not voted?

[Marc Mayrand]

I think we need to distinguish that during an election we focus exclusively on the mechanics of voting—where, when, and how to vote or to be a candidate. In that regard, we try to reach out with special means for groups who face barriers, be they youth or aboriginals, for example. For various groups that we have identified, we have special programs to better reach them.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Canada's voter education model was always a model in the world as well. I know that Elections Canada has always been a member of International IDEA, which of course maintains a technological knowledge network called ACE, electoral practitioners around the world. Can you tell me whether or not we have continued to the same extent, or if our participation in these international networks has gone up or down?

[Marc Mayrand]

We're still a very active member of IDEA—we're on the steering committee there—as well as with ACE. We are still very involved with those two organizations, and work closely with them from time to time.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, David Christopherson]

Thank you. The time has expired.

There's no more time for further questions in this round.

Mr. Reid, you now have the floor, sir.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

I'd like to return to something you mentioned, Mr. Mayrand, in your response to one of Mr. Graham's questions. You said that a survey had been done that indicated that 172,000 people had some problems with regard to ID. I'm not aware of that. I'm assuming this is...or I'm actually not assuming anything on where it came from, but if it's not a public document now, and you're in possession of it, would you be able to present it to us?

[Marc Mayrand]

It is a public document. It was released in February.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Was it released by you?

[Marc Mayrand]

No, it was StatsCan.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Would we find it on their website?

[Marc Mayrand]

It is the Labour Force Survey. I will be happy to provide it to all members after the session, no problem.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Giving it to the clerk would do the trick.... Then she will get it to us.

[Marc Mayrand]

Yes, that's no problem.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Thank you.

I wanted to turn to your report on plans and priorities, page 7. Under the topic of risk analysis, you discuss two things that are of considerable interest to me, as they relate to the electoral reform issue, changes to the voting system. Of course, my party has consistently advocated holding a referendum on this subject. You indicate that you are not currently able to hold a referendum, and that you would require a minimum of six months to do so.

Is it the case that, additionally, legislative changes would be required? I mention this now because my impression, Mr. Mayrand, is that the government is trying to run out the clock so it can say, “Oh, we have this promise; we must change the electoral system, but we are out of time for a referendum.” I want to make sure that no impediments that they can throw out are available to them as excuses—suddenly to discover, “Oh, if only we had thought of this”.

In addition to the six months that you mention would be required for the administration of a referendum, are there any other impediments that you would face? For example, is there a need to change our referendum legislation, that sort of thing?

[Marc Mayrand]

The Referendum Act is outdated. It has not been changed since 1992, which was the last time we had a national referendum. In that regard, it is very much out of sync with the Elections Act, particularly around political financing. For example, unions and corporations could contribute to referendum committees. I think that may come as a shock. There is no limit on contributions by any entities. Again, that may come as a shock, but the legislation still stands.

Is it possible to conduct a referendum under the current legislation? It is possible. It would be at times awkward, but it is possible. It is feasible. My preference would be to see it amended, updated, but again, it would not be impossible to carry out one. The important thing for us is that we get enough of a heads-up so that we can prepare properly.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Right. After that, it would take you six months. Is that your estimation?

[Marc Mayrand]

Yes.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

All right. If you don't mind my pursuing this, just to be absolutely clear.... You said six months. Does that mean six months minimum, or does that mean that if we have six months to the day we could handle it?

[Marc Mayrand]

Six months is an absolute minimum. Corporate memory is loose now, after more than 25 years. Not many people have run a referendum in our organization, so there is a lot of work to do. We also need to establish a new regulation. I think you saw a version a few years back. It is a substantive effort to be made. We need a new tariff, and we also need to establish recruitment programs for workers.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

In this case, the regulation will be designed by you, not by us. Is that correct?

[Marc Mayrand]

That is correct. We will be tabling the proposed regulation before the House. Normally, this committee will review it and be able to make suggestions for amendments.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Right. I am assuming that you are capable of moving in the initial direction without our formal authorization. May I encourage you to try to do as much of that as you can? While this is a contingency that the government has not indicated it favours, they have also been very careful, if you look at the minister's comments, never to actually say it is absolutely, 100% ruled out. I would like to ensure that if they decide to do it—or if they want to pretend that they are willing to do it—they have no option but to actually follow through. I would strongly recommend that any updates required from your end be done so as not to let yourself become the reason why we are not having one, at least on paper.

We have two minutes left, and I wanted to ask you about potential changes to the electoral system. Another concern I've had is that the government will run out the clock to the point where the only changes to the electoral system that are still possible prior to the 2019 election are ones that involve no redistribution, and of course both MMP and STV would require a redistribution.

The question is, how long would it take to engage the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act? I assume an amendment would be required to allow it to happen out of the normal sequence, but how long would the actual process take? Then we can figure out, from our end, how much time is required to amend the legislation, before that time, in order to allow the 2019 deadline to be met.

[Marc Mayrand]

You're correct, it would need legislation for it to happen. Again, it's difficult because I'm not sure what's on the table, but the bare minimum for a standard redistribution is 10 months. That's from the set-up of the commission until they finalize their report for the distribution.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

There's a period after that, is there not as well?

[Marc Mayrand]

There are another seven months after that for implementing. You need to redesign all the maps across each riding and reorganize the poll divisions to reflect the new riding boundaries.