Briefing Book – To the attention of the Commissioner of Canada Elections
Issues requiring early attention
4.1 Key Operational Files
Members of the OCCE will brief the Commissioner on key operational files over the course of his or her first week within the Office.
4.2 Contacts to Make Early On
In the interest of establishing relationships early on following the appointment of the new Commissioner of Canada Elections, it is recommended that the CCE communicates with the groups and individuals listed below.
Political Parties
The newly appointed CCE will have the opportunity to meet with members of registered political parties during the next Advisory Committee of Political Parties meeting, which is scheduled for June 20, 2022.
The political parties currently registered are as follows:
Chairs of PROC and LCJC
Currently, Bardish Chagger, the Liberal Party of Canada member for Waterloo, is the chair of PROC, and Mobina S.B. Jaffer, a B.C. senator in the Independent Senators Group, is the chair of LCJC.
Director of Public Prosecutions
Kathleen Roussel, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), was appointed on June 21, 2017. If the Commissioner decides to lay charges following an investigation, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) is responsible for the prosecution of federal offences, including offences under the Act. This includes, but is not limited to, decisions regarding appeals or sentencing.
The DPP was consulted as part of the process of appointing a new Commissioner, and the OCCE was housed within the PPSC from 2014 to 2019.
Minister responsible for the Canada Elections Act
Dominic Leblanc, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities, is the minister responsible for democratic institutions. Information on role and his mandate letter can be found in section 3.3 of this document.
Provincial Electoral Bodies
Three provincial officers have a similar mandate to the CCE:
- The Chief Electoral Officer of Alberta, Glen L. Resler, also occupies the role of Elections Commissioner. The Alberta Office of the Election Commissioner was a separate office from 2018 to 2019; in 2019, the office was returned to Elections Alberta, and the serving election commissioner was dismissed. The CEO of Alberta continues to occupy the role in the interim.
- Manitoba’s current Commissioner of Elections is Bill Bowles. Like the CCE, the Manitoba Commissioner of Elections is independent of election administration.
- The Directeur général des élections du Québec (DGEQ) is responsible for compliance and enforcement as well as administering the election. The current DGEQ is Pierre Reid.