The Act to amend the Canada Elections Act already included provisions whereby the employees and the budget of the commissioner's office could be transferred. We therefore negotiated with Elections Canada and identified the employees from the commissioner's office. The employees and their salary budget were transferred to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada.
For salaries, there is no real change in the budget. For the other expenses, the operating and maintenance costs, we transferred what the commissioner had spent in previous years. But he also has access to treasury for any costs related to his mandate that are not covered by his allocation. That procedure is going to be maintained.
As for the commissioner's budget, what he spent last year and the projection for this year is pretty much the same, with one exception. The office literally moved last February, that is, in the previous financial year. That move resulted in unusual costs. Otherwise, the costs should be more or less the same. If there is an election, it is possible that the costs for investigations will increase. The commissioner will then seek an allocation from treasury.