Thank you, Mr. Chair, and again, I appreciate the effort that the committee has put in, in doing some research with regard to this. What is interesting is that, in fact, the two jurisdictions in which the report references with regard to, that are voting currently on Tuesdays, interestingly enough, I have come to know that those jurisdictions, in fact, now are revisiting that and considering moving to Saturday.
It was the recommendation within the report that it be considered for a Saturday, and there is a lot of reasons for that, and the first is to do with the convenience for electors to attend the polls without having to schedule it into a busy workday. Of course, it would increase the voter attendance numbers. Secondly, many of the polling stations occur in schools, and a Saturday polling would alleviate any kind of concern with the schools and their schedules within the gymnasiums, and any security concerns associated with the presence of children.
Thirdly, Mr. Chair, a Saturday event would also allow for a significantly expanded human resources pool, which is always a challenge during elections for staffing up election positions. There are a number of people, individuals who possess adequate skills, that it would broaden the pool. A lot of times, those skills that are required for managing polls are people who are at work, commonly Monday to Friday. Certainly, it would increase the pool of people able to work during an election.
I am not going to make a motion to amend this, but I just wanted to, for the record, share my views that I was in support of the original recommendation to have a Saturday be considered. I am not sure that moving to a Tuesday, in fact, changes anything, and that the effort should even be considered. Why not just leave it on a Monday? Those are my comments, Mr. Chair, and I just wanted to be able to put those on the record. Thank you.