Leaders’ Debates Commission Estimates - November 17, 2020

On this page

1. Opening remarks
2. Leaders’ Debates Commission
   1. Key messages
   2. Anticipated questions and answers
   3. Background information
3. Potential amendments to the Canada Elections Act
   1. Key messages
   2. Anticipated questions and answers
   3. Background information
4. Additional key messages
   1. Protecting democracy
   2. Disinformation
   3. Regulating social media platforms
   4. Paris call to action
   5. Critical Election Incident Public Protocol
   6. Privacy and political parties
5. Supplementary Estimates (B)
   1. Financial table
   2. Supplementary Estimates summary
   3. Financial Qs and As
6. Committee membership

1. Opening remarks

President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
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Leaders’ Debates Commission Estimates
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Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs

November 17, 2020
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Introduction

Thank you Madame Chair.

Members and Colleagues, I am pleased to appear before this Committee today to discuss my responsibilities regarding democratic institutions, in particular financial estimates for the Leaders’ Debates Commission.

I am joined today by officials from the Privy Council Office; Allen Sutherland, Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Machinery of Government and Democratic Institutions, and; Manon Paquet, Director, Special Projects in the Democratic Institutions Secretariat.

I am honored that the Prime Minister entrusted me with the important responsibility of supporting our democratic institutions.

We have many reasons to be proud of our democracy, but we need to remember that democracy is fragile. Protecting our values, institutions and practices is a challenge faced by all democracies that requires constant vigilance. I thank the members of this Committee for the work that you do towards that objective.

Leaders’ Debates Commission

Leaders’ debates play an essential role in federal elections, and are a cornerstone of Canada’s healthy, vibrant, and diverse democracy. Since its creation in 2018, the independent Leaders’ Debates Commission has engaged Canadians in our federal elections, and provided a platform for citizens to compare and learn more about prospective prime ministers and their ideas for the country.

While the Commission receives administrative support from the Privy Council Office, it conducts its mandate with complete independence and in the public interest.

This is why, on November 6, 2020 , I proudly announced that the Leaders’ Debates Commission, originally established to organize debates for the 2019 general election, would remain in place for the next general election.

I also announced the reappointment of the Right Honourable David Johnston to the position of Commissioner of the Leaders’ Debates Commission.

I thank Commissioner Johnston for agreeing to continue in this important role.

As you know, the Commission was established in 2018 with a mandate to organize political debates for the 2019 general election. Led by the Right Honourable David Johnston, the Commission delivered two leaders’ debates (one in each official language) during this election.

In the following months, the Commission conducted a lessons-learned exercise based on its initial experience with the 2019 election. This resulted in a recommendation report, which I tabled in the House of Commons on June 1, 2020 . This report includes ten recommendations that seek to inform the future of debates in Canada.

As President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, I have been mandated by the Prime Minister to "consider the report of Canada’s Leaders’ Debates Commissioner on how to further improve leaders’ debates and ensure that they continue to be a central part of our federal elections."

The renewal of the Commission’s mandate will ensure that there will be debates for the next general election, regardless of the timing.

The Supplementary Estimates (B) include an amount of $4.6M for the Commission, which reflects the amount allocated in the 2018 Federal Budget. These funds are set into a frozen allotment and will only be available to the Commission once the 44th general election is called.

The Supplementary Estimates (B) also include an amount of $800,000, which seeks to ensure that the Commission can lead the necessary preparatory work ahead of the next election. This amount represents funds that were not spent by the Commission during its initial mandate and that have been moved to the current fiscal year.

Conduct of an election during a pandemic

Before concluding, I would like to thank this Committee for its on-going study regarding the conduct of a federal election during a pandemic.

As the Chief Electoral Officer notes in his special report to Parliament, it is paramount that we protect the health and safety of electors, election workers, candidates and other persons involved in the conduct of an election while continuing to maintain the integrity of the electoral process.

I look forward to reviewing the upcoming Committee report.

Conclusion

Once again, thank you members for the opportunity to appear today.

I look forward to answering any questions you may have.

Thank you Madame Chair.

2. Leaders’ Debates Commission

a. Key messages

Renewal of the Commission

• Election debates contribute to a healthy and vibrant democracy and are an integral part of our political process.
• Debates engage Canadians in electoral campaigns, and help inform how they vote by providing a forum to compare prospective prime ministers while also giving Canadians more information on different political parties and their platforms.
• Under Commissioner Johnston’s leadership, we can be assured that federal leaders’ debates will be organized in the public interest while respecting the highest journalistic standards.
• This was done to ensure that the Commission could respond quickly and effectively if an election is called.

Changes to the mandate

• The mandate of the Commission has been slightly amended to reflect three recommendations from the Commission’s report, tabled in Parliament on June 1, 2020 .
• The changes align with the Commission’s lessons learned in 2019.
• These adjustments will provide the Commission with a greater level of independence and ensure debates are organized in the public interest while respecting journalistic independence.
• We continue to review Commissioner Johnston’s report, which will be an instrumental piece informing the future of debates in Canada.
• Commissioner Johnston’s work with the Commission has been well received. We believe his knowledge, experience, and leadership on this file make him the most appropriate choice for this role during this time.

Supplementary Estimates (B)

• The Leaders’ Debates Commission’s total funding anticipated through the Supplementary Estimates (B) is $5.4 million.
• The Estimates includes $800k of surplus that was reprofiled from last fiscal year.
• The Estimates also include $4.6M for funding for the Leaders’ Debates Commission that will be accessible once an election is called.
• As an independent body, the Commission is best place to explain how it intends to use the available funding.

b. Anticipated questions and answers

Funding

Q1. Is the government providing funding for the Commission in the current fiscal year because it anticipates an election before the end of March?

No. This is to ensure there are no gaps in operations and that the Commission can respond quickly and effectively if an election is called, which is always a reality in a minority Parliament setting. The timing of the next General Election remains unknown.

Q2. Will the funding allocated for the Commission’s operation until the next election be sufficient, especially given its unknown timing?

The funding included in Supplementary Estimates (B) seeks to ensure that the Commission has sufficient funds to prepare for the next general election. The government remains committed to ensuring that the Commission has the resources its needs such that federal leaders’ debates are a part of our general elections.

Q3. How will the Debates Commission use the funds it is allocated?

The Commission operates independently from the government and from all political parties. All decisions, including financial ones, are the prerogative of the Commissioner.

Changes to the mandate

Q4. Why these three recommendations and not the other ones?

Those are three recommendations that could be implemented quickly. We needed to be sure that the Commission can be ready to present debates at any time given the unknown timing of the next election. Therefore, we considered it prudent to proceed quickly with minimal changes to the mandate.

Q5. Is it the government’s intention to implement more of the Commission’s recommendations in the future?

The reappointment of Commissioner Johnston for a second term is a measure to ensure there are timely debates stood up during the next general election, regardless of timing. The Government will consider all recommendations as it determines next steps in the longer-term future of debates in Canada.

Q6. Are you providing the Commissioner with the final decision on the format of the debates in response to the strong criticism on the format of the English language debate in 2019?

Given that the 2019 election was the first time debates were organized in this way, we opted for a field test approach and mandated the Commission to report to Parliament with findings on its initial experience organizing debates.

The changes we are implementing are consistent with the Commissioner’s recommendation report and allow for more consistency between the format of the English language and the French language debates.

Q7. Why not develop permanent participation criteria in consultation with all opposition parties?

Amending the Commission’s mandate to have the Commissioner set the participation criteria reflects the Commissioner’s recommendation and lessons learned in 2019.

Q8. Some media commentators argued that the 2019 English debate was one of the worst ever. Why return to the same system that created that 2019 English debate?

The 2019 debates reached more Canadians than ever, including in a greater number of formats and languages.

A test-field approach was used when establishing the Commission in 2018. The Commissioner gleaned much from that first experience in 2019 and in reappointing him, this experience will be put to good use for the next election.

Reappointment of the Commissioner

Q9. Why not consult the opposition parties on the appointment of the Commissioner as recommended by the Commission?

I wrote to opposition party leaders to advise them of our intent to re-appoint Commissioner Johnston. The Government will consider all of the Commission’s recommendations as it determines next steps. This includes recommendations on how the Commissioner should be appointed in the future.

Commissioner Johnston’s work with the Commission has been well received by various federal parties. His knowledge, experience, and leadership make him a most appropriate choice for this role during this time.

Q10. Who will be appointed on the Commission’s Advisory Board this time?

As per the order in council setting its mandate, the appointment of Advisory Board members are the prerogative of the Commissioner. The government is not involved in this process.

Role of PCO

Q11. Did the Privy Council Office provide directives or advice to the Leaders’ Debates Commission since its creation?

The Privy Council Office provides administrative support to the Commission. This support is no different from other support that the Privy Council Office has provided to independent entities such as a Commission of Inquiry. However, the relationship ends there. As indicated in the Order in Council setting its mandate, the “commission is to be guided by the pursuit of the public interest and by the principles of independence, impartiality, credibility, democratic citizenship, civic education, inclusion and cost-effectiveness”.

c. Background information

• In 2018, the Leaders’ Debates Commission (LDC) was created to organize leaders’ debates for the 2019 election. Led by an independent commissioner and supported by a seven-member advisory board, the LDC’s mandate was to organize two leaders’ debates (one in each official language) during the 2019 election.
• The LDC has played an important role in making leaders’ debates a more predictable, reliable, and stable element of federal election campaigns, and in supporting more open and transparent debates that reach a greater number of Canadians.
• The LDC has drafted a report on its experiences during the 2019 election with its findings and recommendations, which was submitted to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council in March 2020. The report was tabled in the House of Commons on June 1, 2020 , and was made available on the LDC’s website.
• In response to the uncertain timing of the next general election, the Debates Commissioner is being reappointed for a four-year term. This will ensure that there will be debates for the next general election, whether it is held on a fixed date or earlier.
• The mandate of the LDC has been slightly amended to reflect three recommendations captured in the Commissioner’s report:
  1. The Debates Commissioner will be responsible for setting the criteria for the participation of party leaders to the debates (recommendation #3).
  2. The Debates Commissioner will be provided with the final decision on the format of the debates (recommendation #6).
  3. The Debates Commissioner will be mandated to ensure that the debates are available in languages other than French and English, paying special attention to Canada’s Indigenous languages (recommendation #7).

3. Canada Elections Act

a. Key messages

• The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic presents unique challenges not only to the administration of federal elections, but also to the administration of provincial, territorial, and municipal elections.
• As we have seen in this committee, electoral management bodies across the country have been seized with this issue.
• We are fortunate to have a world-class, independent, election administration body in Elections Canada. Should it be required to administer an election during this difficult time, I am confident that Elections Canada will take all possible measures to protect the health of Canadian electors and election officers.
• I am pleased that multiple witnesses were able to come and share their expertise with the committee. I can assure you that we are carefully considering the Chief Electoral Officer’s recommendations for legislative amendments.
• I want to thank the committee for its study and I look forward to receiving its report on this important issue.

b. Anticipated questions and answers

Q1. Will the Government introduce legislation to respond to the recommendations of the Chief Electoral Officer?

I would like to thank the Chief Electoral Officer for his thoughtful recommendations. We are carefully considering them and recognize the need to proceed swiftly to ensure readiness before the next general election.

The study being conducted by this committee brings an invaluable contribution to this effort.

Q2. What is the Government’s position on weekend voting?

We understand the Chief Electoral Officer’s rationale in putting forward these recommendations, in particular to ensure readiness in the context of the pandemic. We are carefully considering the pros and cons of these measures and look forward to receiving the Committee’s report on this matter.

Q3. Will the Government wait for the Committee’s report before introducing legislation?

We understand that the Chief Electoral Officer is hopeful that his recommendations will be adopted swiftly by Parliament in order to provide Elections Canada with enough time to implement any proposed changes. The study that the Committee is conducting is very useful as we consider options.

Q4. Did the Prime Minister consult the Chief Medical Officer before launching the by‑elections in Toronto-Centre and York-Centre?

As the Prime Minister has indicated, we do not know how the pandemic will unfold and there is a legislated obligation to schedule by-elections within six months following a vacancy. Launching these by-elections ensured that they were not held at a time when the pandemic was even worse.

Elections Canada took all possible measures to ensure that these by-elections were conducted safely and I want to take this as an opportunity to thank all election workers for their dedication and professionalism.

Q5. Will you consult public health officials on the timing of the next general election?

The Canada Elections Act provides that the next fixed-date election will take place in October 2023. In the context of a minority government, an earlier general election and its timing would result from a decision of Parliament.

The Government trusts the advice of our public health officials on how to conduct a safe election and Elections Canada will be ready to conduct it, whenever it may occur.

Q6. The CEO expressed a preference for a longer writ period. Does the Government intend to use the maximum duration of the writ?

As the Committee knows, the ability to set the dates for the issue of the writs and polling day resides with the Governor General on recommendation from the Prime Minister. I am certain that the Prime Minister will consider the unusual challenges created by the pandemic when making these decisions.

Q7. Do you think it is safe to have an election during a pandemic?

Multiple jurisdictions have shown that elections can be safely administered during a pandemic. I trust the advice and recommendation from our public health officials on how to conduct a safe election.

Q8. Do you think that the broader use of mail-in ballots increases the risks of fraud?

I suspect that processing a higher volume of mail-in ballots will be operationally challenging for Elections Canada, but I am confident that the Chief Electoral Officer is taking all necessary steps to address these challenges.

Mail-in ballots have been a feature of our electoral system for decades and have been available to all Canadians since 1993. There is no evidence that their use has led to fraud. Our electoral framework is strong, thanks in large part to amendments made in 2018 through the Elections Modernization Act.

Q9. Should the Chief Electoral Officer make a recommendation to withdraw the writ in some ridings in light of the pandemic, would the government follow such a recommendation?

The government values the expertise of the Chief Electoral Officer and would take such a recommendation very seriously.

c. Background information

Elections Canada has been closely monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic and its evolving impact. As part of its readiness activities, the agency has been developing a new operational plan to deliver an election in the context of a pandemic.

In consultation with health authorities, Elections Canada has been evaluating mechanisms to deliver an accessible, safe and secure election. While the Act provides a variety of tools to allow for modifying certain election procedures in order to respond to the pandemic context, some of these mechanisms, which are designed to decrease risk for Canadians, require additional legislative measures.

On October 5, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) submitted a special report to Parliament entitled: Special Report of the Chief Electoral Officer: Administering an Election during the COVID-19 Pandemic (the Report). In the Report, the CEO recommends the study and adoption of a new statute that would temporarily modify certain provisions in the Act. The CEO’s proposed statute would contain three substantive elements:

• Element 1: Replacement of Monday as polling day with Saturday and Sunday as a two-day polling period; and an increase in voting hours from 12 hours over one day to 16 hours over two days.
• Element 2: Authorization for the Chief Electoral Officer to determine how and when voting will occur in long-term care facilities.
• Element 3: Adjustments to the power to adapt the Act in an emergency situation in order to provide greater flexibility in response to the pandemic.

On October 22, the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs began its study on the challenges posed to the normal conduct of elections by the COVID-19 pandemic with the objective to identify measures to adapt the conduct of General Elections to preserve the health and safety of all Canadians and received the CEO as a witness. Other witnesses including the CEOs of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, British Columbia and Saskatchewan have since appeared, as well as public health officials from the Public Health Agency of Canada, British Columbia, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan. The Committee is set to table an interim report on the Conduct of a Federal Election During the COVID-19 Pandemic on December 11.

4. Additional key messages

a. Protecting democracy

Key messages

• Ahead of the 2019 election, Canada instituted a whole-of-society approach to safeguard the vote and Canada’s democratic institutions against foreign interference.
• The approach included activities under four pillars:
  • Enhancing citizen preparedness: by putting in place initiatives to improve the critical thinking and digital literacy skills of Canadians and establishing the Critical Election Incident Public Protocol to ensure Canadians would be informed of serious attempts to interfere with their ability to have a free and fair election
  • Improving organizational readiness: by offering cybersecurity guidance to political parties and engaging collaboratively with Elections Canada
  • Combatting foreign interference: by activating the G7 Rapid Response Mechanism and leveraging the newly-established Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force
  • Expecting social media platforms to act: by establishing voluntary commitments from key digital and social media platforms to improve transparency, authenticity and integrity on their systems through the Canada Declaration on Electoral Integrity Online
• The Plan received $48M over three years, on top of measures taken in previous years to prepare for and respond to threats.
• The Government is currently evaluating the suite of 2019 initiatives to determine what worked, and what can be improved. Drawing on these evaluations, we will make decisions as to the measures to implement for the next general election and beyond.
• We continue to work to ensure that Canadians can have trust and confidence in our democratic institutions, and ensure that the integrity of our system.

Background

• Ahead of the 2019 election, Canada instituted a whole-of-society approach to safeguard the vote and Canada’s democratic institutions against foreign interference. The plan mobilized expertise from across 10 departments and agencies in an effort to anticipate, recognize, and respond to any potential threats to the integrity of the 43rd General Election.
• Consideration of next steps and evaluation of key measures in protecting Canada’s democratic practices and institutions ahead of the next election and beyond is currently underway.

b. Disinformation

Key messages

Disinformation and misinformation have far-reaching and detrimental effects for our democracy.

It is of paramount importance that any actions taken by the government in response to disinformation be compliant with the freedom of expression rights of all Canadians.

We need to engage all of society to ensure that a balanced approach is taken. This includes working with civil society organizations to promote online literacy and give Canadians the tools they need to spot disinformation and engage in civil discourse.

It also includes working to ensure Canadians have access to a healthy information ecosystem online, and reinforcing trust in our democratic institutions.

Background

Disinformation is a complex issue and a global challenge. It is also crucial that policy responses to disinformation respect Canadians’ freedom of expression. As such, the government has two goals in addressing disinformation: fostering citizen resilience amongst Canadians, and ensuring that Canadians have access to authoritative and factual information.

Citizen resilience is the cornerstone of the Digital Citizen Initiative, led by the Department of Canadian Heritage. The program supports democracy and social cohesion in Canada and seeks to build Canadians’ critical thinking skills and resilience to online disinformation. Additionally, the initiative supports a community of Canadian researchers studying the effects of online disinformation on Canadian society.

c. Social media platforms

Key messages

The Government has taken recent steps to regulate the social media platforms through the Elections Modernization Act and the requirement to maintain an online registry of political advertising.

We acknowledge the initiatives that the online platforms have undertaken to date, and we encourage them to continue innovating to protect citizens from disinformation and other online harms.

Ahead of the 2019 general election, the Government created the Declaration for Electoral Integrity Online. The Declaration laid out principles the government expected online platforms to uphold.

One important commitment in the Declaration was that platforms show leadership by applying their latest advancements and most effective tools from around the world for protecting democratic processes in Canada.

Background

The government has already taken steps to address the impact of social media platforms including through introducing new requirements to the Canada Elections Act for online platforms to maintain an advertising registry of political advertising.

Through previous discussions with online platforms, the Government announced in May 2019 the Canada Declaration on Electoral Integrity Online, which established a number of voluntary commitments for social media companies to uphold the principles of integrity, transparency and authenticity. It was endorsed by Microsoft, Facebook, Google, and Twitter.

The Minister of Canadian Heritage additionally has the mandate to “create new regulations for social media platforms, starting with a requirement that all platforms remove illegal content, including hate speech, within 24 hours or face significant penalties.”

d. Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace

Key messages

Canada recognizes that we must be proactive in order to ensure our democratic institutions are protected from cyber threats today and in the future.

That is why I announced, alongside Microsoft and the Alliance for Securing Democracy, Canada’s co-leadership of Principle 3 - defending electoral processes - of the Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace in May 2020.

The growing challenge that cyber threats pose to electoral processes is part of a broader, multifaceted threat to democratic institutions and requires a whole of society response.

As the issue of cyber threats evolves, no one entity has all the answers. Our work with partners, will ensure Canada benefits from the experiences, tools and lessons learned of like-minded countries, key stakeholders from the civil society and industry.

Background

The Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace is a nonbinding declaration that calls for states, the private sector, and civil society organizations to work together to promote security in cyberspace, counter disinformation, and address new threats endangering citizens and infrastructure. Over 95 governments, nearly 350 international, civil society and public sector organizations, and over 600 private sector entities have endorsed the Paris Call.

Canada has co-lead on Principle 3 of the Paris Call, which calls for strengthening electoral processes against interference, alongside Microsoft and the Alliance for Securing Democracy.

The co-leads have hosted six virtual workshops throughout 2020 to advance thinking on foreign interference in elections. The Government of Canada and its partners have produced infographics highlighting what was heard during the workshops, and a compendium of best practices and lessons learned will be published in early 2021.

e. Critical Election Incident Public Protocol

Key messages

The Cabinet Directive on the Critical Election Incident Public Protocol, approved in June 2019, set out a mechanism through which Canadians would be informed of serious attempts to interfere with their ability to have a free and fair election.

The Directive additionally committed to having an evaluation and an independent report prepared following the 2019 General Election.

This report was completed and submitted to the Prime Minister and the National Security Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians as per the Cabinet Directive.

We are reviewing the evaluation and are in the process of determining the next steps. We know that there is more work to be done to strengthen the resilience of Canadian democracy against foreign interference in elections.

Background

• The Cabinet Directive on the Critical Election Incident Public Protocol is committed to having an independent report prepared following the 2019 General Election.
• James Judd completed the evaluation in early September. A public version of the evaluation on the Critical Election Incident Public Protocol is to be released as per the Cabinet Directive.

f. Privacy and political parties

Key messages

To help ensure that political parties do their part to protect Canadians' personal information, measures were introduced in the Elections Modernization Act, which received Royal Assent in December 2018.

Political parties are now required to have a publicly available, easily understandable policy for the protection of personal information.

Political parties must also submit their privacy policy to Elections Canada and make it publicly available. Failure to comply could result de‑registration as a party.

These measures serve as an important step to ensuring greater transparency in how political parties collect, secure and use data.

Background

• On December 12, 2018 the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (ETHI) recommended changes to Canada’s privacy laws, including new rules to govern the activities of political entities, who are currently largely unregulated under Canada’s privacy legislation.
• In its 2018-2019 report to Parliament, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner stated that “it is imperative for privacy laws to explicitly extend to Canadian political parties.” While in the past, the Privacy Commissioner has called for the extension of PIPEDA to political parties, a specific legislative framework is not included in this most recent call for action.
• Minister Bains is expected to table a bill entitled “An Act to Enact the Consumer Privacy Protection Act and the Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act and to Make Consequential and Related Amendments to other Acts” on November 16, 2020 . The Bill seeks to strengthen privacy protections for Canadians. The new legislation does not extend to political parties as it only covers commercial activities.

5. Supplementary Estimates (B)

a. Financial table

b. Supplementary Estimates summary

Leaders’ Debates Commission

c. Financial Qs and As

Q1. Included in the Supplementary Estimates (B) is $5,402,101 in funding for the LDC. What is this amount for?

The $5.4M in funding consists of:

• $4.6M which will only be used in the event of an election to organize the debates; and,
• $0.8M reprofiled into 2020-21 from unspent funding in 2018-19 and 2019-20. The reprofiled money will ensure the LDC is positioned to organize debates should an election be called with short notice.

Q2. Please provide more details on the $4.6M in funding in the event of an election.

Budget 2018 approved funding for the Leader Debates Commission for every pre‑election and election year. However, given the possibility of an election outside the fixed election date, the Leaders’ Debates Commission has sought access to election year funding in 2020-21. The funding of $4.6M will ensure the Commission is able to organize debates in advance of the next election, regardless of its timing.

Q3. Please provide more details on the $0.8M in funding reprofiled from prior years into 2020-21.

The current minority government context created a need to reprofile funds that had not been spent by the LDC in 2018-19 and 2019-20 in order to ensure the LDC is able to organize debates as required. While operations until the next election is called will be scaled down, the continuation of the LDC with minimal footprint will ensure that it is able to organize debates as required. Specifically, funds will be used to:

• Develop a contract for the production and broadcasting of the debates;
• Identity and initiate contacts with potential distribution partners of the debate signal;
• Identify and initiate contacts with possible venues for debates;
• Initiate contacts and start negotiations with outreach partners;
• Develop a communications plan for rapid deployment during the election period.

Q4. Included in the Supplementary Estimates (B) documentation is $226,040 of authorities to date for LDC. What is this amount for?

Unused funding from 2019-20 of $226,040 has been carried forward to 2020-21 in order to ensure the continuity of LDC until such time as funding could be approved through the Supplementary Estimates process.

Q5. Will the funding allocated for the Commission until the next election be sufficient, especially given its unknown timing?

The funding included in Supplementary Estimates (B) seeks to ensure that the Commission has sufficient funds to prepare for the next general election. The government remains committed to ensuring that the Commission has the resources its needs such that federal leaders’ debates are a part of our general elections.

Q6. Will LDC receive corporate services from the PCO? How much will this cost?

It is anticipated that the Privy Council Office (PCO) will provide corporate support to the Commission for 2020-21 for services such as financial management services, human resource management services, information technology services and information management services.

For 2019-20, the amount charged to LDC for PCO corporate services was $0.3M and preliminary estimates for 2020-21 are $0.1M.

Prior to year-end, PCO will inform the Commission of anticipated year-end costs and provide an estimate of costs to the end of the 2020-21 fiscal year.

Q7. Why is the Government providing so much funding for the Commission and how will the $5.4M be used?

The $5.4M in funding reflects the total cost for the next election cycle. If there is no election in the current fiscal year, the amount set aside for the election will be moved to the next fiscal year.

The Government wants to ensure it provides sufficient funds to the independent Commission in order to ensure it can fulfill its mandate. The Commission will be responsible for its expenditures and operations.

Q8. How much has LDC spent to date?

To date the LDC has spent $3.9M consisting of $0.1M in 2018-19 and $3.7M in 2019-20. The amount spent to date reflects the funding that was approved for the last election and includes:

• $1.6M in contract funding for the production and broadcasting of the debates;
• $1M in salaries for Commission employees; and,
• $950K in professional services including legal services, contracts with advisory board members and corporate services provided by PCO.

6. Committee membership