Broadly speaking, I would think not.
Returning officers had to adjust to new boundaries, especially experienced returning officers who had established contacts in the past with certain locations. That was an adjustment. In Ontario in particular, because we used to share the boundaries with the province and we do share some of the returning officers, and because we had back-to-back elections, they had to move from one boundary to another and make adjustments, so there were challenges there. Speaking to the CEO of Ontario, he had a huge challenge confirming polling sites, and he didn't change his ridings.
I don't think these are unique circumstances. I think we have to accept that the difficulty stems from a range of legal and social factors. Today, if a school principal has a badminton tournament organized in a school, they will not cancel it without consulting the parents or going to the council. They're reluctant to do that. Commercial landlords have lawyers, and they often own many properties, and they have standard processes that are not designed for the turnaround times we need during an election. I think it's an evolution of the real estate market for polls.
