Hurry up and wait: To buy for elections is to be always ready at the starting gate

Summit, Mar 2001 by Morrison, Catherine

To buy for elections is to be always ready at the starting gate at the starting gate

Last spring was rife with rumours of an imminent election. Bill C-2, which would substantially alter the administration of federal elections, was being debated in the House of Commons. For Elections Canada this meant being fully provisioned for a federal election that might take place under the old Canada Elections Act, while also being fully provisioned for an election that might take place under the amended requirements, regulations and provisions of a new Act.

A federal general election is a huge event in the nation's political and economic life. It costs some $200 million to prepare for, deliver and wrap up. Purchasing the services of local election officials, leasing returning offices, polling locations and office equipment, buying supplies, printing ballots and mailing to voters election-related information costs an estimated $93 million alone. Some 550 tonnes of materials are deployed to the field from headquarters' warehouses: almost two million maps, along with boxes, forms, signs, lists and ballot paper.

Another estimated $60 million is spent on headquarters procurement and materiel management. Even without new legislation looming, Elections Canada routinely stocks sufficient ballot paper for two national electoral events. Adequate and up-to-date supplies of all kinds must be on hand to deliver a general election or referendum at any time, or one or more by-elections, which could occur suddenly due to the resignation or unexpected death of a Member of Parliament. Once the writ is dropped there is an election calendar of only 36 days - no time to order specialized paper. "We are prepared for as many as 10 by-elections at any time," says Janice Vezina, director of election financing at Elections Canada.

Elections Canada usually handles its storage requirements - supplies required during a general election - within 12,000 square metres of warehouse space in the national capital region. The supplies are packed into 5,300 "monotainers" - 90-cubic-foot containers that are then loaded onto Canada Post trucks and shipped out across the country to returning offices in 301 ridings. The first of four cross-Canada shipments has to occur months before the writ is dropped, as it contains materials such as standard lease forms, signage and training manuals that allow the returning officer to open a staffed office as soon as the election call is official. Much of this preparation must take place in a planning environment, for not even the Chief Electoral Officer knows for certain when an election will be called.

At the peak of loading up this vast quantity of material, as many as 40 people working per day covering two 8-hour shifts to be ready for the brief delivery window - a bit like a military operation in terms of scope and urgency. Three more shipments go out during the course of the 36-day election calendar.

For the general election held November 27, 2000, satellite technology was used to track the progress of these vital shipments across the country. Bar coding the contents made it possible to know the whereabouts of a shipment at any time. One November morning, one of the trucks making its way across Northwestern Ontario was involved in a collision that saw two men killed and half a million sheets of ballot paper go up in flames. Elections Canada was able to have another truck loaded and on its way by 5 p.m. that evening.

Satellite tracking is a far cry from some of the technology used historically in delivering election supplies. Up until 1972, if there was no other alternative, supplies would be dropped by parachute into remote northern ridings. Two of these parachutes remain in Elections Canada's travelling historic exhibit.

The unusual legislative situation in 2000 meant a challenging election year in terms of materiels management. An additional 1,100 square metres of warehouse space was required to house new supplies required under the new Act, with cost implications for both additional inventory and the space house it. Offsetting the additional costs was the firsttime use in a general election of the National Register of Electors to prepare electoral lists without an associated enumeration. The Chief Electoral Officer, Jean-Pierre Kingsley, estimates that eliminating enumeration saves Canadian taxpayers $30 million on each federal election or referendum.

Having to be prepared to deliver the election under two legislative scenarios was a balancing act for Kingsley. On May 31, 2000, Bill C-2 received royal assent, pushing him off the balance beam onto the sprint course. According to the new legislation, he had up to six months to get ready to run an election. Given the political reality at the time, he did not. The Prime Minister seemed bent on an election well before the year was out. By September 1, Kingsley was able to announce in the Canada Gazette that he was ready and the new Act was in force. When the election was finally called October 22nd, 550 tonnes of supplies were ready at the gate. AVA