PROC Committee Meeting

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MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS

Meeting No. 79

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

The Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs met in a televised session at 10:31 a.m. this day, in Room 253-D, Centre Block, the Chair, Joe Preston, presiding.

Members of the Committee present: Scott Armstrong, Nathan Cullen, Alexandrine Latendresse, Hon. Dominic LeBlanc, Tom Lukiwski, Dave MacKenzie, Costas Menegakis, Joe Preston, Scott Reid, Craig Scott and Nycole Turmel.

Acting Members present: Corneliu Chisu for Parm Gill, Hon. Stéphane Dion for Hon. Dominic LeBlanc and David Wilks for Costas Menegakis.

In attendance: Library of Parliament: Andre Barnes, Analyst ; Michel Bédard, Analyst ; Sebastian Spano, Analyst.

Witnesses: House of Commons: Richard Fujarczuk, Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel. Elections Canada: Marc Mayrand, Chief Electoral Officer; Belaineh Deguefé, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, Policy, Planning and Public Affairs; Stéphane Perrault, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, Legal Services, Compliance and Investigations; Michel Roussel, Senior Director, Field Readiness and Event Management.

Pursuant to Standing Orders 110 and 111, the Committee commenced its study of the Order in Council appointment of Richard Fujarczuk to the position of Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel of the House of Commons, referred to the Committee on Friday, March 22, 2013.

Richard Fujarczuk made a statement and answered questions.

At 10:58 a.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 11:05 a.m., the sitting resumed.

Pursuant to Standing Order 81(4), the Committee commenced its study of the Main Estimates 2013-14: Vote 15 under PRIVY COUNCIL, referred to the Committee on Monday, February 25, 2013.

Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), the Committee commenced its study of the report of the Chief Electoral Officer entitled "Preventing Deceptive Communications with Electors - Recommendations from the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada Following the 41st General Election", referred to the Committee on Wednesday, March 27, 2013.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the Committee commenced its study of the report of the Chief Electoral Officer entitled "Compliance Review: Final Report and Recommendations - A Review of Compliance with Election Day Registration and Voting Process Rules".

Marc Mayrand made a statement and answered questions.

Alexandrine Latendresse gave notice of the following motion:

That the Committee:

(a) Recognize that reports of the Chief Electoral Officer submitted to Parliament from 2010 onward demonstrate that, if Parliament does not modernize our electoral system in order to engage young Canadians, lower and lower percentages of eligible voters will turn out to vote in future federal elections; and

(b) Conduct a comprehensive study before December 2013 on potential mechanisms to enhance youth electoral engagement in Canada, with the view to implement such changes before the next federal election, including: modernizing the online voter registration system; ensuring there are polling stations on university and college campuses across the country; recruiting and training more youth to act as elections officers; raising awareness about how and where to vote, especially among mobile college and university students; considering an electronic voting system; considering automatic registration; and, removing barriers to pre-registering young people at age 16 as prospective voters, in advance of eligibility to vote at age 18.

Questioning of the witness resumed.

At 12:50 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 12:52 p.m., the sitting resumed in camera.

The Committee proceeded to the consideration of matters related to Committee business.

At 12:54 p.m., the Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.

Marie-France Renaud
Clerk of the Committee

2013/05/29 8:13 a.m.