Evidence of meeting #15 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 elections.
A recording is available from Parliament.
General Manager, Customer Experience, Canada Post Corporation
Absolutely, yes.
Liberal
Omar Alghabra Liberal Mississauga Centre, ON
Okay.
I have another question. There is an idea of the ability of voters, once they mail in their ballots, to.... Are we able or is Canada Post able to track that ballot and inform the voter who sent that mail-in ballot that the envelope was received by Elections Canada?
General Manager, Customer Experience, Canada Post Corporation
We are using regular Lettermail, so there is no ability to track that particular piece within our system to say that we have received this particular piece from this particular person. We do not have that ability.
We do have that ability for parcels, which you can track and see where it's going, but for Lettermail, that's not a product that we have available at this time.
Liberal
Omar Alghabra Liberal Mississauga Centre, ON
Maybe that is a question that should be directed to Elections Canada. Does Elections Canada keep track of the envelope? Is that doable?
I should ask that question to Elections Canada and not to you.
General Manager, Customer Experience, Canada Post Corporation
Yes, that would be a question for Elections Canada; I agree.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ruby Sahota
Thank you.
That's all the time we have for that interaction.
Next we have Mr. Therrien for six minutes, please.
Bloc
Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I want to acknowledge our two witnesses who have come to provide information today.
I'll start by asking Ms. Chayer some questions.
Ms. Chayer, you've experienced elections in Saskatchewan and British Columbia. It's fair to say that, if you could fulfill those mandates, you could fulfill the mandate of a federal election.
In your view, aside from the fact that the federal election is larger than the provincial elections, what other issues, which we don't know about, could make the federal election more challenging?
Are there any problems inherent to the federal election that could affect your work and make it more challenging?
General Manager, Customer Experience, Canada Post Corporation
In terms of problems, I wouldn't necessarily call them problems per se. There are challenges in delivering an election, challenges that we've been able to meet each and every time we deliver a provincial election or a federal election. We've been very successful in delivering them.
This particular election, we do have the added complexity of the increased vote by mail and understanding how that will work. We are working closely with Elections Canada to iron out those fine details so that things go smoothly on that side.
Other challenges that this particular election could have, because we are in a COVID environment, are with how Elections Canada will identify and confirm the RO offices and polling stations. I don't know if they will have more challenges in doing that or not. We need that information in order to start our processes of delivering equipment to the RO offices, for the printers to start printing the VICs and the ballots and all of that kind of stuff. All of that information is required to coordinate that.
From Elections Canada's point of view, that would perhaps be a challenge meeting some of those requirements, and any delays then transfer to us.
We've been doing elections for a while. We do have a standard agreement with them, a memorandum of understanding. We have some set milestones and some set objectives that we are geared towards, and we manage to those objectives.
Bloc
Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC
Aside from the holiday season, at what time of year do you have the most work, which would make it more challenging to fulfill an election mandate?
General Manager, Customer Experience, Canada Post Corporation
The peak season, which is what we are in right now, is certainly a high-volume season for us.
In 2021, something that we do need to take into account is that it is a census year. In May, we will have added volumes there related to the census, so that is something we need to keep in mind as well.
If they happen at the same time, it can be done. It will certainly be challenging for us but not something that we cannot overcome.
Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC
This is exactly the type of situation that I was thinking about.
Mr. Orb, when you speak to your members or to the people whom you represent and tell them that there may be a federal election, how do they react?
Do they say that it isn't a big deal, that they've been through an election in their province or in some cities and that it will be fine, or do they say that it would be better not to have one?
What's the reaction of people who have experienced this situation in other areas?
President, Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities
Well, of course, we haven't been through a federal election yet, but as I mentioned, we've been through municipal elections and provincial elections. The mail-in ballots, I think, are the key to successful elections now, because people of course are concerned about COVID.
One thing I wanted to mention is that our rural post offices are very important to us, especially at a time like this, and a number of years ago, organizations like SARM lobbied to put a moratorium on rural post office closures. We see them as a valuable asset, a way of being able to vote using mail-in ballots. It's very important now.
Bloc
Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC
If you speak to them about a possible election, the people whom you represent are ready, they say that they can handle it and they don't see any issues. Is that right?
President, Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities
Yes, I think that's a fair statement. I think people are preparing. We're hearing a lot about a spring election, and I think our members would not be averse to that. I don't think it would deter people from voting if they had the option of mail-in ballots and, as I mentioned previously, there is the idea of having enough advance polls so that there aren't as many people going to vote in person at one time. I think it could be doable.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ruby Sahota
Thank you, Mr. Orb. Unfortunately, that's all the time we have for this round.
Mr. Blaikie, you have six minutes.
NDP
Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB
Thank you very much.
Mr. Orb, I'm very glad to have you here. I was concerned to get you here so we could get the perspective of rural communities that have already gone through an election.
There's a particular question that I wanted to ask you. We've heard that in order to procure a mail-in ballot with Elections Canada, that's largely an online process. I just wonder if you have any concerns about that, and any larger concerns about Internet availability in rural and remote communities.
President, Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities
Yes. Of course, that would be one of our major concerns: having to apply for them online. We don't have good connectivity out in the rural areas. It's not reliable. I think you're familiar with that story. This is not only in rural Saskatchewan. This is in rural Canada, period. That's something that we've been pushing the federal government on, that's for sure.
NDP
Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB
Ms. Chayer, if Elections Canada were so disposed to call on Canada Post to ask if people could register in person at Canada Post outlets for mail-in ballots—not to replace an online application but as an alternative—is that a service that you think Canada Post could deliver?
General Manager, Customer Experience, Canada Post Corporation
If Elections Canada approached us with such an option, we would certainly take a look at that and discuss it. We can certainly discuss it with Elections Canada and see how that would work.
NDP
Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB
Mr. Orb, do you think that if people were able to register in person at Canada Post outlets for a mail-in ballot it would be helpful to people living in rural and remote communities who may not have adequate Internet access in order to apply online for a mail-in ballot?
President, Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities
Yes, I think it would definitely help. We would welcome seeing that.
NDP
Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB
Is that a recommendation that you would like to see this committee make?
President, Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities
You know what? I think it's something that would be a great idea. Yes, I think we would be supportive of that.
NDP
Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB
One of the other issues that I was hoping to get your feedback on, Mr. Orb, has to do with telephone voting. It's something that we don't have a lot of experience with federally, but we've heard some testimony about the use of telephone voting in British Columbia. I was just wondering if you have some thoughts about what that would mean for people living in rural and remote communities if that were an option in a federal election.
President, Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities
I think it could be considered as an option. For people who have landlines, I think it's something that would be a good option. However, for people who use cellphones—and there are many people who live in rural areas who don't have landlines and rely on cellphones—the coverage isn't as good, so it could be more of an issue. I'm not sure. It might be a security issue, too, but for sure I think it's good to have an option to have both of those.