Mr. Speaker, in referring to these examples, Harry Neufeld, who wrote the Neufeld report, described them as “irregularities”. He then clarified on page five or six of his report that an irregularity means a problem that is severe enough that it could result in the overturning of an election.
We see this in the case of the Opitz v. Wrzesnewskyj case that went to the Supreme Court of Canada, in which the court came very close to disallowing it and starting the election over again, not because they in the court thought that anybody had voted fraudulently but because it was impossible to tell whether the votes had been cast legitimately. There was a dispute. The majority, which I think did the right thing, said that we could be secure enough about the identities of the particular individuals in question, who were in a closed-entry residential seniors residence.
However, we can see the problem that arises here. Fraud is not the only thing that can cause an election to be controverted. The inability to establish whether people voted legitimately or whether there were accidental irregularities is also a problem.
Would the minister comment on this concern?