Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  I would say the process is democratic. It is used in many different countries.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  The votes are transferred because of the quota. The first step is to determine the quota, but it is not necessary to get more than the quota. If nobody receives more votes than the required number, the idea is to avoid an unused vote. Maybe I'll try to explain it in English.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  If you just want to vote for number one and nobody else, you can certainly do that. So you just mark the one.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  The rationale is that if you're a voter and you vote for number one, number two, and number three, obviously that indicates that you have preferences other than number one, in the first instance. There's someone else you would like to see selected. You'd like to see this person selected first, this one selected second, this one selected third, etc.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  Essentially, yes.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  Maybe before I answer that directly, I would say that we looked closely at the Australian situation when we were designing this bill, because we thought it was very instructive of the way a system could work. They are on the Westminster system. Their traditions are very similar to ours.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  The Australians use what's called the Robson rotation for the way the candidates' names appear on the ballot. We use a similar provision, but it's slightly different in its construction. The provision suggested in the bill is that the candidates' names be rotated. That's because studies have shown that the order of a person's name on the ballot can have a significant effect on voter reaction to that name.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  That's correct.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  Indeed, but if we're talking about spending limits—one needs to consider all the spending limits—at least from my perspective, it seems difficult to contemplate that you would have a more restrictive spending limit for a province-wide campaign than you would for the campaign of an MP in a much smaller geographical area.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  There is no stale date on the list, no.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  It's very similar to the system that was proposed in B.C., yes.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  It's essentially that, yes. It follows the same rules, so the process that's set out in the bill for the rules that are followed in the process is the same. Going back to your previous comment--the practicality of contribution limits and what it means--here the practicality of the way the system works means that it becomes an alternative vote system.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  Indeed. Sorry, I meant one vacancy. There's no transfer of surplus, because obviously once someone attains the quota, they become the person who is the successful candidate. When there's only one candidate, obviously when you determine the quota, the formula means that the quota becomes as the quota is for a “first past the post” system.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  Officially, they become places that are open when senators resign, for example, or when they attain the age of 75, or when they leave for the other reason: some people die before the age of 75. What's provided for in the bill is that the Prime Minister...obviously for the ones that are attaining the age of 75, it's possible to look forward and anticipate what would happen there.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  The selection process for any of the provinces is province wide.