Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Mr. Chairman, I wish to assure the committee and I wish to assure Parliament that the rules are enforced equally for everyone, whether they're MPs, rich, poor, in-between, or just candidates who didn't make it to the House. The rulings are all consistent. Whether they're made by the commissioner in his interpretation of the statute or by the officials who review these things—and one is not the same as the other—I want to assure Mr.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Would you like to know how many times it happened during the last election?

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  The process is not underway yet. However, we have started thinking about it and we have begun preparing certain documents. We have obviously not written to the parties or the candidates yet, because the bill has not yet been adopted.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Subsections 178(1) and 178(2) list a series of criteria. I would apply the same criteria, but only once it has been shown that a person is incompetent or politically biased. In my opinion, those reasons alone would be enough to dismiss someone. In other words, it would be a judgment call.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  This type of thing would be taken into consideration. In other words, we would act like an employer would. Our performance criteria would be the same. If a person's performance was not satisfactory, other measures apart from dismissal could be considered. Dismissal is not the only possible option.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  The present statute of limitations is seven years--up to seven years, I should say. The commissioner, after he--it is a he at this time--has obtained knowledge of the thing, must institute prosecutorial measures within a year and a half of finding that out.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Must, within a year and a half of finding out.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  By the way, this is a new threshold from January 1, 2004. Before that, it was a year and a half for the whole shooting match. This bill would increase that to ten years--

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  --and increase the period within which the prosecution must take place to five years. So it becomes a five and ten issue, which is much better in terms of seeking to obtain the prosecutorial purposes of the statute.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  That's how we will proceed. I might also add that current returning officers whose mandate will end and whose performance was good could have their mandates renewed without a public competition being held.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I'm talking about people who currently hold the position and whose mandate will end, but whose performance was very good. In other words, if no major issues arose, the person could see their mandate renewed without a new competition being held.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  In Canada, the Chief Electoral Officer has been recruiting and appointing returning officers for a long time. This has been going on in Quebec for about the last 25 years, as well as in Manitoba, British Columbia and elsewhere. In fact this is the way it is done in most jurisdictions.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Mr. Chairman, under our plan — and I've already talked about it to another committee — we will consult members and parties to see whether they think the current returning officers who wish to serve again were impartial and whether they did a good job. You can have a perfectly impartial person who is completely incompetent.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  First of all, what I would want to mention is that in both cases--as a matter of fact, in all five cases--I'm mentioning these things and bringing them to your attention so that people understand when they're passing a law what the consequences are, at least to the extent that I can read the consequences.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do have a few comments, but they won't exceed the ten-minute time allocation. My presentation will focus on five main topics: the appointment of returning officers, the proposed contribution rules, the application of the Access to Information Act to my office, the prosecution of election offences by the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the proposed treatment of gifts.