1:59 p.m. - 2002-12-10
Presents
Two telephone calls from Elections Canada yesterday. The first about my invoice for work completed - who authorized the work? Christine is always the person delegated to call me if there are problems. I explained that I wouldn't be doing any work IF I wasn't requested to do so and gave her the name of the two people in the geo division I had been working with. Question now - will I be told that the wrong protocols were followed and, therefore, I won't get paid? That has happened to other Returning Officers. Sometimes too, we are asked to do work where someone has created the work plan for the action without ever having done our job; often they miss key steps to achieve the goal set at the beginning. Sometimes it takes a long time to explain the necessity of having - oh say - accurate maps to do the geo assignments or the amount of time it actually takes to physically find and inspect a site, as we are required to do to ensure it is handicap accessible, that we want to use as a polling station. Other than the election period itself, we have to invoice before we are reimbursed and usually it is at least two months before a cheque comes through - often much longer. I keep reminding myself that Christine is only the messenger and that the department is only trying to be fiscally responsible - something all tax-payers want from their government. It is one of the downfalls of working thousands of miles away from the administration center. Face to face discussions are usually much more effective. Someday I would actually like to meet Christine and some of the other people I liaise with. When we go for training in Ottawa we are kept so busy that we never have a chance to see them.
Last election was in 2000. Because I had had difficulty finding rentable office space the previous event, I started searching for space in June even though the event wasn't due to start until October. Part of the problem is the requirements the space has to meet. Size is specified, it has to be wired to support a LAN network, it has to be handicap accessible, it has to be in our constituency boundaries, it may not be near any of the political parties/candidates offices, it must be on a main floor - oh - and it can only cost x amount of dollars per month. The other side of the coin is we have a very hot rental market in the city - prices per sq ft are very high, most landlords can't distinguish the difference between the political parties/candidates who are notorious for not paying their bills and the government agency - Elections Canada - that is set up to administer elections, the landlords don't like short term (two to three monnths) leases, and they don't want anything perceived as political on their properties. By the day before the election I had finally been able to find one site, at the end of September, and had entered into protracted negotiations with the agent and included Elections Canada's lawyer where necessary. I had continued searching because I didn't really trust the agent, but nothing else came available. We settled all the details and I had approval from our lawyer one week before the call. The paperwork was done according to instructions. Sure enough, the day the election was called the agent called up and said his clients would not agree to the rental unless the price was doubled. I was in the middle of the grocery store trying to stock up for my family when that call came through. Standing at the check-out, cell phone in hand, I'm trying to explain this to the lawyer who is in Ottawa. There was no time for further negotiations because, by law, I must be able to issue ballots to voters from that day forward and I have a staff of about 60 people and the computer equipment to accommodate. The lawyer said, VERY EMPHATICALLY, that he would not allow me to sign the new lease nor would I be allowed to use that site. I said fine, I would run the event out of my house (it is forbidden in the legislation) since I had no other options. Finally the lawyer worked things out, but I don't think that agent will ever try to cross the government again in that way. This same tactic occurred all over Canada to a number of Returning Officers - it is a chronic problem. Had a similar go-round with the office furniture rental agency. Protecting tax-payer dollars from other tax-payers is sometimes very difficult.
In light of my experiences though, the article in the newspaper about the collection of $42 billion more (I checked the figures so I am certain of that figure now)for employment insurance from employees and employers than should have been levied and the ensuing "loss" of that little pot of money, just leaves my mind boggled. In any election I administer our expenses have to be accounted for down to the penny WITH documentation. Lose one receipt and you're in big trouble, mister.
Next call from Elections Canada was from the geography staff I had been working with - could I pull together some more data for them? What am I supposed to do, I don't like having to ask for everything in writing with an authorization attached, but I can't afford not to charge for my services right now. With every employer I have I always throw in a little extra of my own time just for good will, but not now.
Next government call was from Employment Insurance asking for the report that is necessary to collect benefits. One of the questions was, "will you be receiving any other income or do you think you might receive any income for work performed in the last two weeks; if so how much?". What do I say? I don't know when or if the work I've invoiced will be approved or when I'll be paid let alone how much. For all I know it may become "involuntary volunteer work". I decided I would say "no" this week and hope things would be worked out by next reporting period a week from now. Some days it doesn't matter what you do it's wrong.
All I want for Christmas is a job.
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