Procedure and House Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, I will try to answer very briefly. As far as removing the names of people who have changed addresses from the electoral lists is concerned, once in a while in the last six years, I know that we have taken measures to ensure that when a person registers on the electoral list during an election, that person is asked wether anyone would have lived in their place of residence previously.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  To begin with, I will state that I was aware, and I remember the problems with Edmonton Centre. I will also reassure people that the problems were in Edmonton Centre, and they did not manifest themselves to any extent, as was presented. We were able to purify the lists through special measures that we took.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I share your feelings, Mr. Godin. That is why I said that you had identified a problem. I explained the reason why the problem is as it is. However, I recommended somewhere that we sit down together and examine the matter, to see how we could deal with these specific cases. We must also take into account the fact that the people who are in the hospital do not all come from the same riding.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  With regard to resources, I would like to reassure committee members. Elections Canada has what we call statutory authority—in other words, if I need additional resources, I obtain them automatically. It is not to me to determine the resources I need to fulfil the duties of my position.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Elections Canada makes no special effort to track this. If there is abuse, I rely on you the members and the candidates, to report that abuse and to complain to the commissioner. That is how the system has always worked. I have therefore not allocated resources across Canada to check on householder use.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Absolutely. If you forward them to me, I will refer them to the commissioner, since they involve an alleged breach of the legislation. We should bear in mind that it is not an actual breach of the legislation, but rather the possibility that Parliament has subsidized an election campaign, something that is inherently problematic.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Mr. Godin, you have identified a problem that has existed since the act was amended in 1993. The act stipulates that the lists must be revised—and I have no choice in this regard—six days prior to the election. From that point to election day, we cannot do anything. So from that day on, there can be no requests for special ballots.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I continue to write to the Governor in Council every time a returning officer position becomes vacant. The current legislation continues to apply. It is the only legislation that allows me to take action. Moreover, I do not believe that any position has gone beyond the 60-day deadline.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  You are quite right. I take back what I said.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  No, I should be the one to apologize. The deadline was indeed allowed to slide by. I think that it is now up to the Governor in Council to take action. As for myself, I complied with the provisions of the act which stipulate that I must inform the Governor in Council in writing whenever a returning officer position becomes vacant.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I noted down the three or four comments you made concerning the recent election campaign and I already look forward to receiving your list of complains. We are taking this very seriously, just as we did after the last election. I won't answer every question you asked, since you asked me not to.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, the reason I am satisfied that it would be satisfactory is that the very statistics the member has just quoted make it such that we do not add names to the lists of electors from the income tax file, because too many of them are contaminated. That data bank is contaminated, in a sense, because too many non-Canadians check off that box.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I am satisfied. I think I understood the purport of the question, but I thought I would add the other element. I didn't want people to think that non-Canadians were being added willy-nilly to the list, because we don't do that. I am satisfied. I can't imagine people walking around with their birth certificate just in case they're asked a question at the polls.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The reason is very simple. I am trying to find an answer to the concerns raised by the members of this committee. We are talking here about the possibility of turning up to vote at a polling station without holding Canadian citizenship. This is why I made a recommendation so that the citizenship of such individuals may be established, or at least so that we can ensure such persons provide written evidence of their citizenship.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. Through our earlier discussion several weeks ago, this invitation was made to me. I jumped at the opportunity, as I always do, to appear before this committee. This is the primary committee before which I appear and before which I tell all. I look forward to the opportunity this morning to tell all whenever I have an answer to provide.