Evidence of meeting #4 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 election.
A recording is available from Parliament.
11:45 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ruby Sahota
No problem. We'll restart the clock.
They're sandwiched in the middle round, so there will be a Conservative and a Liberal round after the Bloc and NDP.
11:45 a.m.
Conservative
11:45 a.m.
NDP
11:45 a.m.
Conservative
11:45 a.m.
Bloc
Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC
Thank you.
The problem that can occur in seniors' residences is fraud. I'm raising the issue. There are people who do not have the intellectual capacity to vote.
Did you plan for all political parties—fraud makes no winners—to send a representative to watch the voting process?
11:45 a.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
Voting in long-term care and seniors' homes can vary considerably. For example, in Toronto, the majority of long-term care homes have opted for mail-in voting. In this case, staff simply distribute the application forms. They are filled out by residents, who sometimes receive assistance. Essentially, staff act as a conduit for the mail-in vote. This is not much different from a situation where residents would ask their children or a family member to help them.
In other cases—I'm thinking of two places where there is a mobile polling station—it's done by workers at the centre, but it's done by people who have been trained by Elections Canada to make sure the process runs smoothly
11:50 a.m.
Bloc
Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC
I see.
Who verifies that people who are going to vote by mail are able to do so?
I'll give you an example. I once ran in an election, and when I was visiting care homes, I saw someone who wanted to vote for Duplessis. It is well known that he died in 1959.
So, how do we make sure that the individual who votes knows what he or she is doing?
11:50 a.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
We have no way of doing that. Our election workers do not subject voters to any tests of intellectual capacity. There is no such test, as far as I know, and it is not done in any democracy that I know of.
The test is whether the voter shows a willingness to vote, and this is the only test we can perform. There is no IQ test for—
11:50 a.m.
Bloc
Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC
That's not what I meant. I was simply saying that, in this context, fraud is easier with mail-in votes.
11:50 a.m.
Liberal
11:50 a.m.
NDP
Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB
Thank you very much.
I want to come back to the question I was asking before. We've heard a lot about what Elections Canada is doing to try to be compliant with the public health orders of the various jurisdictions in which you have to run an election, but beyond that, there is the question of the challenges the pandemic poses to all sorts of people, whether it's people living with disabilities or people in indigenous communities, where we've heard a lot about the challenges of the pandemic in those communities.
Those are all things that may cause people to choose not to vote. To what extent is it part of Elections Canada's mandate and what planning are you doing to help promote turnout in difficult conditions to ensure compliance with the public health orders?
11:50 a.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
I think that basically our role with respect to turnout is making sure that people have the right information about the process. The evidence is that there is a connection between the amount of information, the amount of understanding they have about the process, and their willingness to participate.
We would not get into the motivational aspects. Motivational aspects are for campaigns to do; it's not the business of Elections Canada. But one of the things we would certainly be doing in this election that is unique is properly informing electors of all of the safety measures that are in place, so that they feel comfortable going to a polling station and voting. That clearly is our role, and that we have plans for and a very specific campaign to that effect. That is an important factor in making sure that voters are not afraid of voting.
11:50 a.m.
NDP
Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB
Has there been any work done to identify demographic groups that might have more systemic challenges to voting—the homeless population, as an example—during the pandemic? I mentioned earlier the indigenous communities who have tight travel restrictions and are worried about people coming in and out of their communities. Recruiting poll workers, for instance, might be more of a challenge there.
Has Elections Canada tried to identify particular groups that may face additional barriers to participation in the election? What work are you doing in order to mitigate those barriers?
11:50 a.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
At this point, we are and have been conducting surveys of the general population. We have that broken down into certain categories, such as age groups. We could provide that information to the committee, if it is interested.
Ultimately, a lot of the work is a matter of local adjustments. We have community relations officers. As I've said and as you've noted, things will vary considerably. An election in New Brunswick and an election in Montreal or Toronto are very different things. It's the same in northern or remote areas, where you have indigenous communities. This is something that has to be managed locally with community relations officers and the returning officers to make sure they can offer the service that meets the circumstances of the voters.
Again, to me, this speaks in part to the length of the election. Let's say you have a 36-day campaign and it's a snap election. As a returning officer, when the writs are issued you don't yet have an office and computer equipment. You're far away from reaching out to those communities. You have to find polling locations. You have to find poll workers. That's why—
11:55 a.m.
NDP
Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB
If I may, Madam Chair, can I make an official request for the information that Monsieur Perrault indicated? That would be great.
11:55 a.m.
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski Conservative Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK
Thank you very much.
Good morning, Monsieur Perrault. It's the first time we've had an opportunity to speak, so I guess the first thing I should say is congratulations on your appointment. In years past, I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with and working with two of your predecessors, Monsieur Kingsley and Monsieur Mayrand. I'm certainly looking forward to working with you in the future.
My first point—I have several, and I'll try to be succinct—is just an observation, sir. You made a recommendation that the writ period should be longer rather than shorter. You did so because it would assist Elections Canada and your officials in the logistics of operating an election. I would simply point out to you, sir, that normally the government of the day sets the date of the election and the writ period, unless of course it goes to the full term, at which time the automatic voting date provisions will kick in. But if a government chooses to call an election prior to the fixed election date, normally they do so because they are ahead in the polls. It seems to follow, then, that if this were the case, they would have a shorter rather than longer writ period to take advantage of their popularity at the time. I would suggest to you, sir, that you and your officials be prepared—that whenever the next election is called, it will be a shorter writ period rather than longer.
My questions deal primarily with the mail-in ballot provisions. First, have you developed a best guess yet, sir, as to how many mail-in ballots you might be receiving?
