Evidence of meeting #11 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was pandemic.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ruby Sahota
That's all the time we have, unfortunately. We're over time. I wanted you to be able to get in a sufficient answer for that.
Dr. Duncan, you have five minutes, please.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Perrault. Thank you to all our guests. You're always so gracious with your time.
I have a limited amount of time, so I'll be looking largely for a yes-or-no answer.
Monsieur Perrault, could you table with the committee how many employees, contract, etc., were hired during the national election, how many mail-in ballots were printed and how many mail-in ballots were submitted, both in Canada and internationally, for both the 2015 and 2019 elections, please?
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Thank you.
Could you table with the committee how many people voted in the advance polls, the number of advance polls used and over what time period, for both the 2015 and 2019 elections, please?
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
Absolutely, I have some of these numbers in front of me.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
I will wait for the tabling. Thank you so much.
Do you believe that the nature of the coronavirus outbreak varies across the country, yes or no?
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Thank you so much.
You mentioned that you've been doing your projected costs. Is it possible to table these projections with the committee?
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
We don't have a projection for the election yet. I think that will depend on some of the preparations we're discussing today. I'm hearing suggestions and we're working on those. It's an evolving number.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
I understand that.
Could we see where that evolving number is? I guess what I'm really looking for are the new costs: PPE, barrier protections. Is that possible?
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
Right now, it's $52 million for that.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
What is the percentage increase, please, over the last election then?
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
The cost of the last election was $507.9million or $507.8 million.
November 19th, 2020 / 12:05 p.m.
Liberal
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Thank you.
Do you accept that long-term care and retirement residents may require special protocols to ensure people's right to vote?
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
That is why I've requested some special powers.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Thank you very much.
Could you table with the committee the financial reports—I don't know if this is possible—for the 2015 and 2019 elections? I'm looking for the comparison between a usual election and a pandemic election, the difference and the percentage increase or decrease in costs.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
You're asking for the past two elections and the cost of those.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Thank you so much.
Now I'm going to ask, if I may, about the Toronto by-elections.
Did we use schools?
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
No, schools were not available for pandemic reasons.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Thank you. That's what I wanted to hear.
Did you install any protections in the polling stations to protect poll staff and voters?
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
There was a range of protective equipment installed in the polling stations but not physical barriers, in the by-elections. We had shields and masks and of course hand sanitizers and stickers. We are procuring shields for a general election.