Procedure and House Affairs committee  The data centre is in the process of being built. The timeline for that is June 12, to be precise. Following the completion of the data centre, it will be tested. Then we will migrate the systems, which are currently being worked on. The work is being finalized. We will migrate that for integrated testing in September.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It depends on how well it goes. That's why you need to give yourselves a bit of runway. We will do the testing. To the extent that we need to make adjustments, we are giving ourselves until March. So far things are going very well, but we are giving ourselves enough time to do the adjustments so that in March when we do the simulation, everything will be ready to be deployed and used.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It is fair to say that we have been and continue to be quite busy. We have a very tight but clear schedule of the work that needs to be done for the next election. We are working on schedule. Of course, if changes are coming up, as you've indicated there may be, then we'll have to introduce them into our schedule, so after September, once we've done our testing, we may have to introduce other changes to the system, which is why I'm here today saying time is of the essence.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is a pleasure to be back before the committee today to present Elections Canada's Main Estimates for 2018-19. This appearance also provides the opportunity to highlight the calendar of key activities that remain to prepare for the next general election, particularly in light of potential important legislative changes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  You raised a number of interesting and important points. On the first one, I do want to remind the committee that there are recommendations we made regarding the expansion of transfer certificates for people with disabilities. If we have that, in that way we'll introduce some flexibility into the system to provide those with disabilities access to other polling locations.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  A couple of elements to answer. It's not just going to be a full answer to that. We have been working very closely with the communications security establishment. They provide, first of all, standards that we need to meet. Second of all, they assist us in the procurement of technology, and they do supply chain integrity for us.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Absolutely. I do agree that we need to remove that six-month limitation in the Canada Elections Act for the regulation of revenues to third parties. We've supported that and I personally support that.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Absolutely.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'll ask Michel to speak to that point because he's responsible for that area.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It think it's important to keep in mind that we are legally bound to ensure, where ever possible, accessible polling locations. However, in many cases there are options and there are other considerations than accessibility for the polling locations. There is not a clear cut answer to your question, unfortunately.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Absolutely. As you recall, there are two main problems for the current regime. One is the scope of regulated activities. Right now, the regime in the Canada Elections Act limits the expenses of third parties in terms of election advertising expenses only. That does not capture a range of activities such as get out the vote, canvassing, or other activities that may be campaigning in nature.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  What we see in rural areas is fewer lineups at the polls. As a concern, it's travel distance to the polling places. That's the issue, and in many cases, the drawing of the polling divisions. At the last election, it was not adequate. So we've sought ways to improve that. One of the ways we're improving that is we're starting by identifying potential polling places and then drafting the boundaries around that, rather than drafting polling divisions and then trying to find a polling place in there.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That's a valid point. There are two things. One is distance, and it's not the only factor. What we're introducing here in terms of distance is technology that enables a calculation of the travel distance, not as the crow flies, but driving distance. I know Mr. Reid had issues in his riding at the last election.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Correct. They will start this spring well in advance of the election. That's a new change that we're introducing. They will start identifying potential polling places based on all kinds of criteria, including accessibility. From that they will start working on the polling divisions.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I welcome this opportunity to appear before the committee today to present Election Canada's 2018-19 interim estimates as well as to update members on the status of our preparations for the 2019 general election. Today, the committee is voting on Election Canada's interim supply, which totals $7.7 million.