Procedure and House Affairs committee  I understand that concern. That's why, I guess.... Certainly, an improvement would be to at least have an independent audit, an independent yearly certification, so that now there's a proper policy in place that meets the standard and it is complying. It is something that I understand is largely used in the private industry, and that would, in a sense, address some of the concerns I hear you raising.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  There is a bit of that, but it goes beyond that. It's really a matter of being able to observe, for any citizen, what kind of advertising is going on, who is being targeted, what the messages are, and whether or not they are consistent. Also, it is a way of looking at whether or not these are legitimate advertisements.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  From what I understand, Facebook is looking at something like that, but I am asking why we wouldn't have a national repository somewhere of all the ads on all platforms, rather than having to rely on The Globe and Mail approach that probably seeks to track those ads. It seems to me it's getting very complex to be able to track which ads are taking place regarding the common public good, which is the election.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It's something we should explore. Interestingly, social media seems to be totally exempt from the general rules that govern public discourse, and yet it is public discourse. Some would argue that it's not that public, but in my view it is public discourse. Anyway, it goes well beyond elections.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It's a truly emerging issue. I think everybody is looking at it. There is enough evidence now of interference, mostly foreign but also other types of interference, that it is becoming an issue of concern for many governments around the world. The U.S., as you all know, is certainly looking at things.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Certainly, seniors homes, long-term care facilities, come to mind. Possibly—I'm not sure—it's workable in the area of students living in residence. They should be well served by the VIC now, if that goes through. Probably aboriginal people living on reserve.... This is a real issue in those areas in terms of proving who they are and where they live, yet they vote mostly on their reserve, so we know where they live.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Absolutely, yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  No, sorry, the laundering was the foreign entity providing funds to a Canadian one, and the Canadian one turning around and setting up a subsidiary, for example, or a subgroup, let's say, and providing them funds from their general revenues now, so you've lost the foreign nature.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It's no different from what exists for candidates or parties in that regard. Audits always take place after the fact, so I am not sure how we can cure that, except eventually moving towards a system in which we have real-time disclosure of contributions. Technology probably allows for that.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That information, as far as I can tell, is not to be shared with anyone. It's on the Elections Canada registry. It's protected. It's behind firewalls. It's well protected, and Elections Canada is always looking at security threats and IT threats and taking the most advanced measures to protect against those.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  There is more flexibility in terms of picking the location where they can vote, making sure it's accessible. There are also provisions in the act that allow introducing technology to serve electors with disabilities, to remove barriers there. When I was at Elections Canada, we were working closely with various disability groups.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That's another welcome change. I think it is something we had proposed in 2016. Again, it avoids the distinction that sometimes is quite difficult to make in reality. I would also note that candidates will also benefit from the provisions. They will have a greater rate of reimbursement, an important measure, which I believe is an incentive for candidates and parties to reach out to disabled electors with the tools they use to understand the communications.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  There are a few points. We have an interesting regime in terms of identification in Canada. We have a requirement by federal legislation with regard to identification and proof of address, but we don't have a national card. That I find quite striking. We don't have a national card that meets all the requirements for identification.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would like to know whether I'm seen as a supporter or an opponent, or what category I'm in and what kind of information you have on me, and where this information comes from if it doesn't come from me.