Procedure and House Affairs Committee on Oct. 23rd, 2025

[Stéphane Perrault]

Yes, I have spoken to my team and asked that it be examined so we can make sure that if there are serious complaints, they are not lost because there's a question mark on the security of the link or the document. Yes, I have spoken to my team in that regard.

I would add, though, as I said in my opening remarks, that in the case of allegations that signatures were affixed to a document without the name of a candidate, there is no offence under the act. That is something that needs to be addressed.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Ponoka—Didsbury, AB]

That's fair. I appreciate that.

I'm going to move on quickly to make sure that Mr. Jackson has some time.

Mr. Perrault, would you undertake to submit to this committee, from the last election, the 45th general election, the number of sworn affidavits, on a per-riding basis, that were signed in order to allow electors to vote who could not provide proof of their citizenship, age or address?

[Stéphane Perrault]

Mr. Chair, electors cannot swear an affidavit to prove their own address.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Ponoka—Didsbury, AB]

I want the number of affidavits that were sworn by.... I understand how it works.

[Stéphane Perrault]

There are different circumstances if a sworn statement is made. It can be made by an elector attesting to another elector. Also, when somebody registers at the polls, they attest that they are a Canadian citizen and over 18 years old. There's that attestation.

I want to be clear. I'm not resisting the request.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Ponoka—Didsbury, AB]

It's both.

[Stéphane Perrault]

I will certainly undertake to see whether we can do that. All of the documents pertaining to the elections are sealed in bags for the 343 districts. There are, I believe, 77,000 polling divisions, with each having a bag. If they're in there, it would take years to collect all of them without any specific inquiry into a particular polling division.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Ponoka—Didsbury, AB]

Okay. If I got back to you with a subset of ridings, would that be helpful?

[Stéphane Perrault]

It certainly would be, but again, with the undertaking on a best-effort basis, the implications could be very significant, especially as we prepare for a possible election that could happen at any time.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Ponoka—Didsbury, AB]

That's understood. Thank you.

[Grant Jackson, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Thank you for being here again, Mr. Perrault.

I questioned your predecessor when he was here about what it would take logistically and from a staffing perspective for Elections Canada to specifically check that all 100 signatures for each candidate are, in fact, unique. He didn't want to comment on your operations now that you run the show, so I will put the same question to you.

From a staffing perspective, what would it take for Elections Canada to be able to do that, if 100 unique signatures were imposed as a requirement?

[Stéphane Perrault]

I want to be clear that I do not envisage doing that, in the sense that certainly this is not something that could take place within the few hours involved in the verification of the nomination process.

Currently, returning officers go through the hundred signatures to make sure that there are a hundred and that they are attached to people who are resident in the electoral district. That is the requirement. To then compare with other nomination papers is not something that could be done in the time allowed.

[Grant Jackson, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

How would you propose enforcing the rule of 100 unique signatures per candidate?

[Stéphane Perrault]

It's an important question. My view is that this should be enforced in case of organizers orchestrating—I'll use the word “stunt”, because that's been used before at this committee—campaigns to multiply candidates by using the same ones.

[Grant Jackson, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

I respect that, certainly, but I think the public is not going to trust the longest ballot committee to police themselves, and I don't think we as legislators should either.

If it's not Elections Canada that will review the candidate signatures, would you support making the signatures public so that then at least the public could compare signatures from candidate to candidate, and if there are duplications, file a complaint with your organization?

[The Chair, Liberal, Chris Bittle]

Give a very quick answer, Mr. Perrault.

[Stéphane Perrault]

They are public right now. They can be examined in the office of the returning officer right now.

I did not say that we would not do an examination. I said that we would not systematically do examinations. Where we have cause to suspect that there is activity.... To be quite frank, the activities to orchestrate the kinds of initiatives that we saw require a fair amount of publicity. These are not things that happen under the radar. It is not difficult to see how we could very well, in those cases, intervene, do verifications and refer the cases to the commissioner, as required.

[The Chair, Liberal, Chris Bittle]

Thank you so much.

Madam Kayabaga, go ahead, please, for five minutes.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Welcome back. It's nice to see you again, Mr. Perrault.

I want to ask you a few questions and hear what you think about individuals or entities who assist or facilitate someone else's violation of a provision of the Canada Elections Act. Should they be held accountable under the act and, if not, can you tell us why not?

[Stéphane Perrault]

You may be referring to a recommendation by the former commissioner. I think there was a recommendation to have a general rule to make sure that, any time there's an offence, people who are assisting in the commission of that offence can be caught under the Canada Elections Act, similar to provisions in other legislation that does that.

Obviously, I would support that.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Should the scope of the Canada Elections Act be extended so that the provisions would also apply to conspiracy attempts, counselling contravention or being an accessory after the fact to a violation of the act?

[Stéphane Perrault]

I think that would be a sound approach, yes.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Currently the Canada Elections Act bans third parties from accepting foreign contributions for the purpose of conducting regulated activities, but it does not prohibit foreign entities from giving such contributions. Where do the challenges lie within this provision right now, and what gaps does it pose?

[Stéphane Perrault]

I think it's simply a matter of being more comprehensive in the rules if we don't want foreign money to come in. Sometimes the person who receives the money may not be aware, but the person who gives it certainly is. Parliament would want to make sure that the rules cover both the person or entity who, unwittingly in some cases, receives money that may be foreign in source, and the person, the foreigner, who attempts...or delivers that money to the campaigns.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Are you saying that the law should be amended to prohibit that?