Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thanks for the opportunity to appear to discuss Elections Canada's main estimates for 2017-18. Before I start, I want to thank the chair and the members of this committee for the work that you have done in reviewing the CEO's recommendations and for report

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Absolutely. That is precisely our plan. That is part of the feedback we also received. By having satellite offices in addition to the main returning office, we can offer, for the duration of the campaign, voting opportunities by special ballot, whether for people who are within

Procedure and House Affairs committee  To be quite frank with this committee, we are in the early stages but we plan to engage the advisory committee of political parties, in late June, with various options of this proposal.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  There certainly will need to be changes, depending on the fate of Bill C-33, in our outreach and use of social media. That's something we will need to expand. In terms of the delivery of ballots, people abroad will continue to be able to download application forms, if they've pr

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I agree that's a significant concern. It's particularly offensive when you're in a seniors' home, and you've done some targeted revision and met them a week before. They come to vote, and they have to prove to you again who they are and where they reside, when you're right there

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I do not have the final costs with me. I'd be happy to provide them. I understand, Mr. Chair, that the question relates to the Callaghan case, which is the Federal Court case, not any investigation in relation to similar facts. I would be happy to provide the committee with those

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Absolutely. I don't have those numbers.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  As the law now stands, any amount of money that is not reimbursable and that is provided to a political party is a contribution under the act. I do know that in the CEO's recommendations there is a recommendation, not for parties but for candidates, to look at exceptions when the

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Absolutely.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm not sure that I can answer all your questions, but I'll answer some of them. During the election, there were 1,800 candidates, which is more than usual. The spending was also much higher than usual, because the limits were more than doubled given the duration of the election

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That's an excellent question. Obviously, we don't know the scope of the different bills. There seems to be three government bills. We intend to make a submission to the Treasury Board to make sure we have the resources needed to meet the new demands resulting from the legislatio

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Regarding the increase, I'll ask my colleague Mr. St-Pierre to answer the question.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Absolutely. I think that in terms of the success, we cannot look only at the participation rate. I think you make the very valid point that it was not just a voting opportunity. It was an engagement opportunity. We do know, based on our research, that voters who vote early will t

Procedure and House Affairs committee  There were 40 on campuses and at friendship centres. They were mostly on campuses, I think. The vast majority at least were on campuses. We would be looking to expand that where possible.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  No, not at this point. For the most part, in the last election, those institutions that we engaged were responsive. There were a few cases where it was a challenge for various reasons, so we'll try again next time. We'll be happy to come back with some numbers when we're furthe