Canada's chief electoral officer struggled to choose his words carefully in Ottawa on Monday. He was trying to avoid further controversy.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has accused Marc Mayrand of violating the will of Parliament by allowing deeply religious Muslim women to wear a veil when voting. (They will have to proffer two pieces of ID or have someone vouch for them if they elect to keep their faces covered.)

Mayrand says he is only following the rules as set out in the law. Harper says this is not what the recent changes to the Elections Act were all about.

Maynard was asked if he thought the parties heaping scorn on him now were just trying to score political points ahead of next week's three Quebec byelections. He said he would not speculate on motives.

Similarly, Mayrand was asked if he thought the fact Harper has been involved in at least two lawsuits against Elections Canada already may have something to do with his attack. (As the former head of the National Citizen's Coalition, Harper challenged Elections Canada in court — and lost — over election spending limits on third parties. More recently, a group of Conservative riding associations are suing Elections Canada over its decision to disallow almost $1 million in supposedly local expenses that were incurred by the national campaign.)

Mayrand, who was appointed chief electoral officer by Harper in February, responded that one of those lawsuits is now before the courts, so he can't comment.