Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault will answer to committee on why he attended a secret meeting with New Democrats and Liberals to discuss rewriting the Elections Act. Perrault’s office said he considered such meetings to be routine — though it included a proposal guaranteeing pension eligibility for 28 New Democrat and Liberal MPs, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “Elections Canada was asked to attend a meeting in Ottawa to provide its technical expertise,” said Matthew McKenna, spokesperson for Elections Canada. “The Chief Electoral Officer answered questions.”Perrault will now testify at the House Affairs Committee on who said what, McKenna told Blacklock’s. “He looks forward to sharing his perspectives.”The meeting occurred on January 25 in the Parliament Hill Office of Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc. Invited guests “included representatives of the NDP” and the Prime Minister’s Office, McKenna confirmed.The meeting was called to discuss Bill C-65 An Act To Amend The Canada Elections Act introduced weeks later in the Commons. One clause of the bill proposed a change in fixed dates of a 2025 election, a revision that guarantees pension eligibility for 28 New Democrats and Liberals including three members of cabinet: Treasury Board President Anita Anand, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and Tourism Minister Soraya Martinez Ferrada.Pension benefits currently average $77,900 a year under the Members Of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act. No Conservative, Bloc Québécois or Green MPs or political aides were told of the meeting.“NDP headquarters staff were invited and attended those meetings,” Conservative MP Eric Duncan told the committee. “That is completely inappropriate. One political party was given access to information and documents and crafted a bill.”One guest at the confidential meeting, Assistant Cabinet Secretary Allen Sutherland, said no records were kept of what was said. “My understanding is the briefing was primarily oral,” Sutherland testified October 31.Sutherland said he also attended a second meeting but did not mention any date. “I attended I believe two meetings of that kind,” he said.“Didn’t you find it unusual that a discussion about amending the Elections Act included only two political parties and excluded the others?” asked Conservative MP Luc Berthold.“It’s important to understand what my role was in those meetings which was simply to provide background information,” replied Sutherland.
