Procedure and House Affairs committee  I certainly can speak at fair length to my experience of the process. I don't think it's for me to speak to other people who may or may not have been involved in the process. In my case I submitted my application. There was an interview, I believe in early November, so the process ended at the end of October, if I'm not mistaken.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I got a phone call from the senior personnel in the Privy Council Office telling me that letters would be going out to parties that day or the next day—I'm not sure—and that my name was not on those letters. They did not tell me whose name was on those letters. That was just the day before the Toronto Star article that everybody is familiar with.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  We've begun training our returning officers for the next election. They're aware of our recommendations. One of the things we've worked on with returning officers is building more of what we call a one-team culture. It used to be, largely I think for historical reasons because these were Governor in Council appointees, that there was a gap between what we call the field returning officers and Elections Canada.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Sure. Apart from the 338 returning officers, we have about 150 additional what we call satellite returning officers. This is because some ridings in Canada are, as you know, very, very large, and it's not possible to properly service voters from one location. Therefore, we have multiple offices in the larger ridings, and that is something we will continue, of course.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Assuming the law is changed, of course.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think it's a bit of both, to be quite frank. I think the debate was more one of principle than one of practical concerns in the sense that I certainly see that during the writ period, our role is to inform voters about where, when, and how to register and vote and to make sure they have the correct information.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Certainly it has been a very productive year in working with the recommendations report with this committee. We're very happy to see much of the recommendations unanimously endorsed by this committee. I think that goes a long way toward the credibility of our electoral process, and many of them were also endorsed by the government.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Of course we're thrilled to see the bill has now been introduced. I was concerned before I appeared before this committee on the main estimates that we did not have a bill then. We do have a bill now. We are refining an implementation plan for that bill. We will begin work on that over the summer.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. As you might imagine, it is a great honour and privilege to be here today before members of this committee. The Chief Electoral Officer of Canada plays a role that is critical for the functioning of our electoral democracy and that comes with important responsibilities.