Procedure and House Affairs Committee on Dec. 5th, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Mr. Berthold.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

If I understand correctly, it is the local returning officer who will determine the times, dates and periods during which there will be voting in seniors' residences.

Is that correct?

[Robert Sampson]

Yes, that's right.

I would point out that this will be done in co‑operation with the administrator of the institution in question. So it's not just decided according to the returning officer's wishes. It will depend on the activities taking place in the establishment at the time.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

In the bill, is there any provision for how these dates and times will be communicated to the various political parties to ensure that all parties are aware of the procedure?

Will there be specific periods so that each of the political parties can have the information?

[Robert Sampson]

The manner in which the information is communicated is not specified, but it should be done at a meeting involving all candidates and the returning officer. The returning officer is in contact with the candidates throughout the election period. Information is therefore circulated as arrangements are made.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

So there are no specifics. How the information is communicated is left to the discretion of the local returning officer.

Ms. Ramalho, you seem to want to add a comment.

[Candice Ramalho, Senior Policy Officer, Privy Council Office]

Thank you, Chair.

To confirm, clause 21 of the bill would enact proposed subsection 124(3)—

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

On a point of order, Mr. Chair.

There is a problem with the interpretation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

All right.

Please be patient, Ms. Gaudreau.

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

All right.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

It looks like that's settled.

So we'll continue.

Ms. Ramalho, go ahead.

[Candice Ramalho]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Clause 21 would enact proposed subsection 124(3). The returning officer is obligated to “give notice to the candidates of the days and hours that a polling station” established in a long-term care facility will be open in accordance with the instructions provided. There is a requirement to give notification.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

All right. There's enough time.

Is there a time limit in section 21 for notifying the parties, or is it left solely to the discretion of the returning officer?

[Robert Sampson]

It's left to the discretion of the returning officer, but it's going to happen depending on the availability of information.

One of the tasks that the returning officer performs during the election period is to make all these arrangements. As soon as the information is known, it will be communicated.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Have you done an analysis? We know that recruitment was very difficult during the last election campaign. It was a special time, of course; it was during the COVID‑19 pandemic. I think it was a difficult situation for the whole democratic process.

Actually, people who are available are less and less available when it comes to working long hours.

The bill provides for extended hours. New working hours for poll workers will be determined.

Have you assessed the impact of these changes on staff?

[Robert Sampson]

The framework that will be provided in the legislation will be the same as that put in place during the pandemic. It was a very special time, and it's a little difficult to draw conclusions about the process.

That said, it has been possible to offer voting services in several establishments. I can give you some figures, because your colleague Mr. Calkins asked the question. We were able to offer these services in 5,167 establishments.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

All right.

[Robert Sampson]

Mr. Calkins wanted to know the number of establishments that did not want a polling station. This represented 3.5% of facilities, meaning that out of 5,167 facilities, 183 did not have voting services, because management did not want a polling station in their long-term care facility.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

All right.

I'll make sure Mr. Calkins has access to that data.

So, according to you, there will be roughly the same number of people as during the last election, given the special context at the time.

Is that correct?

[Robert Sampson]

There are always difficulties. However, they were greater during the pandemic.

So we hope it will be easier to recruit the people needed for the next election. If we were able to do that during the pandemic, we think we'll be able to do it again. There will be challenges, of course. An election is always a challenge for us, but we hope that everything will go well during the next election.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Thank you very much, Mr. Berthold.

Next is Mr. Duncan.

[Eric Duncan, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

Thank you.

I have a couple of points for clarification.

Ms. Ramalho, you mentioned clauses 21 to 23.

They are scrutineers. Mr. Berthold mentioned notification of what the hours are going to be. Again, for the Dundas Manor in my hometown, I'm trying to visualize. Scrutineers will be available at polling sites for long-term care like for every other regular polling station. There are no other changes coming to that.

I believe that further proposed sections get into this about the ability to assist an elector at a long-term care home. That's a different section that deals with this, my point being on the access for scrutineers to go and observe the voting on those up to 12 hours. That can be over the 13 days. That is the same scrutineer rule that other polling locations have.

[Candice Ramalho]

Clause 21, which establishes a new proposed subsection 124(4), provides that the provisions of the act that “relate to polling stations shall...apply to a polling station established” under this new section, so yes.

[Eric Duncan, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

My last point is perhaps for reflection.

I understand that we have to have a willingness from an administrator of a long-term care home for us to go there. COVID in the last election certainly did provide a scramble. The one concern I have though is, respectfully, what I'll call a veto. Influenza and different health issues happen, unfortunately, in long-term care, pandemic or not.

My concern is, does the returning officer have a “shall” if they deem a right to go in or provide some sort of...? I wonder if there's an administrator...or if there's any tracking of statistics. Going forward in the next election, is it going to be tracked as to how many long-term care homes a returning officer asked for that were denied? I'm curious, because I think that for an administrator to have a veto over whether a polling station goes there or not is a lot of influence for one individual to have in the democratic process.