Procedure and House Affairs committee  There is no question that there need to be changes to allow people to vote, and I don't actually believe that this particular change is that radical, to be quite honest with you. But it's not the radical nature that upsets me—and as a New Democrat, that shouldn't surprise you. I think it's more a question of what can be effective.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I entirely agree.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Regarding the number of employees, perhaps I am not all that worried, as I said, because people who want to make both ends meet will often accept working on Sundays, whereas they may not accept to work on Mondays. I think that it might not be all that difficult. Regarding volunteers, which means being able to provide a team for two consecutive election days, I feel more worried.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I can say that in 2003 the federal NDP held an electronic ballot for the selection of our leader. It was the first time that kind of voting process had taken place in Canada, and it was a very educational process for us, and actually one that gave us a tremendous amount of confidence in a lot of the options that are available around e-voting.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  In fact, voter turnout is a topic which is ripe for discussion. As it turns out, if there are several deceased persons on a list, or people who no longer live at the stated address, or whatever the case may be, when it comes time to calculate the voter turnout percentage, the figures are skewed as a result.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Obviously, the New Democratic Party of Canada will support all efforts to encourage greater voter turnout. This has always been an issue of the utmost importance for our party. However, just like my colleague from the Liberal Party, we share Elections Canada's concerns, which were mentioned by Mr.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  My name is Éric Hébert-Daly. I am the federal secretary of the New Democratic Party of Canada. We know each other because I have appeared regularly before your committee. So as far as introductions go, that will suffice.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It isn't only a matter of the refund. Would you not agree that a three-year period would be useful for someone who guarantees a loan? If, for example, the loan falls through and the contribution has to be repaid over 3 years, then it would be more logical to say that the length is 3 years rather than 18 months.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Essentially my answer is similar to Monsieur Gardner's. In fact, it's not up to the bank to govern the Elections Act, it's up to Elections Canada to do that. Just the same as if somebody votes twice, you don't expect anyone else to look after that, it's the responsibility of the commissioner.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I can certainly say Mr. Siegel is correct in stating that a lot of banks are reticent when there's an intermediary managing the rebate. But at the same time, a lot of them do see it as reliable enough, based on past practice, and go ahead and do that—or at least a portion of that—and divide it up among certain guarantors.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Well, the level playing field is key, and most importantly, in terms of the spending limits. I appeared before this committee last year to describe how I felt strongly that limits on leadership contest spending was an issue that needed to be dealt with. I continue to believe that lowering limits on these sorts of things does level the playing field; it really does have a positive impact on access to the system.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'd like to add that in fact there's still quite a bit of flexibility in the internal workings of a political party to address some of the issues that we've had to deal with over the last 20 years, I'm sure. My colleagues at the table here will share that there are mechanisms around how rebates are shared within parties, about how that's used as guarantees and how that can be done centrally.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It seems to me that there could be a simple form signed showing the amount of money we're willing to take responsibility for. Most of you around the table will have signed forms assigning rebates and assigning personal information and all these sorts of things to your parties in your own processes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I suspect, just given the way elections normally work, that it could happen pretty much at any time that engagement takes place. The reason is primarily that sometimes your candidates don't get nominated until into the writ. So I don't think you can specify a time for it. I think, frankly, it just needs to be as fluid as any other assignment form that you would fill in for party purposes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  If I may, Mr. Siegel, I think that's a good point, and I think both of those things are valid. I wonder if the solution isn't that you be permitted to transfer, assuming that there's an agreement to transfer. I think that the danger is that we suddenly, as parties, develop all these debts we didn't expect.