Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Firstly, with respect to the accuracy of the lists, the letter I wrote to the Committee—on October 5, I believe, I referred to it earlier—clearly indicates that with a fixed election date, special arrangements can be made. However, even with these special arrangements, the list will not be as accurate as the list we would have prepared for November 15, even with special arrangements.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  If there was a way of seeing if it could be done, I would consider the possibility, but at this point, I don’t see how, because of the workload, especially if there are plans to add identification papers. There is a lot of uncertainty. That is what I am trying to point out.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  And if I can be found.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. There will be a record--

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That is because the government, in its response, quite rightly noted that my office was consulted on what is in the bill, and what is in the bill or in the response we made sure we could implement.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  There will be a paper trail. The person will have to sign in such an instance, and if there is any abuse of that, we will be able to trace the document, trace the handwriting, do the requisite comparisons, and prosecute if necessary.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  You requested it, and therefore I will provide the information. How you react to it and why you would want to bring me back is really up to you. Of course, I will respond within two hours of notice, Mr. Chairman.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  There's also the requirement for vouching, which means that somebody else must be there who knows the person. I suppose that's a double whammy of a requirement.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I certainly agree entirely with you, Mr. Preston. The text perhaps could have been clearer. I would intend to undertake this work immediately after this meeting and ascertain what government ID exists now, what is issued by different governments across the land. If you look at the federal government, there is no photo ID, to the best of my knowledge, provided by anyone at the federal government level, except perhaps the passport, and maybe citizenship cards.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  We'll undertake that immediately. That was the gist, the thrust of my comment, sir.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Well, I did, and what I indicated in my answer is that I share the committee's views on this issue, and therefore I'm not in disagreement with the government's response. Okay? I'm not in disagreement. I'm in agreement with the government's response on this.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Nothing that the government responded was found objectionable by my office.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  So it's a form of negative consent, if you wish, but that's not the thrust of it. In my discussions with the chairman, the thrust of what I was supposed to do was to highlight those things left to be studied, and that's the thrust of what I did.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, with respect to prisoners in federal penitentiaries, I have, in light of the Supreme Court judgment, adapted the statute in accordance with my powers, which is the power to adapt in unforeseen circumstances or in cases of emergency. I have adapted the statute because Parliament had not had an opportunity to amend the law, based on the Supreme Court judgment.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  This is what would happen if I do not adapt the statute. These people are attuned to their rights. Mr. Sauvé is well attuned to his rights, other prisoners are attuned to their rights, as confirmed by the Supreme Court, and this is obviously one redress mechanism that they would attempt.