Election Canada probes anti-abortion group
Breach of campaign laws alleged
An anti-abortion group consisting of just two employees has received notice from Elections Canada that it is being investigated for violating federal campaign laws.
The investigation is looking into Ottawa-based RightNow’s role in helping connect anti-abortion campaign volunteers with like-minded candidates during the 2019 federal election.
Rightnow received a letter in February from the federal election commissioner ordering it to submit documentation and agree to interviews with investigators over allegations it recruited, trained and co-ordinated volunteers “for up to 50 federal campaigns,” which the letter alleges is contrary to the Canada Elections Act.
Scott Hayward, RightNow’s co-founder and one of its two employees, said activities were limited to identifying “winnable” pro-life candidates from all parties, and matching them with local volunteers.
He said it was then up to volunteers to get in touch with a given candidate’s campaign to volunteer if they wanted to, and the candidates’ teams assigned the volunteers their roles.
“We didn’t tell the campaigns what to do. The campaigns didn’t direct us to find volunteers. Our goal was to help pro-life candidates get elected. All we did was provide volunteers to advance a non-partisan agenda for pro-life issues,” Hayward said.
The group’s lawyer, Albertos Polizogopoulos, said Rightnow intends to co-operate with the investigation, but won’t submit documents or attend interviews without specifics of the case it faces. He said Elections Canada has rebuffed such requests.
A senior communications officer for the commission would not confirm to National Post that an investigation is underway, however, the letter to Rightnow from the chief electoral officer’s director of investigations, Mylène Gigou, confirmed the inquiry began in February. Gigou’s letter also said the “strict” confidentiality provisions of the commission’s enabling legislation prevent disclosure of where, when or how breaches of the Canada Elections Act allegedly occurred.
Polizogopoulos has since launched formal complaints on Rightnow’s behalf against six major labour unions, alleging that they also provided volunteers to 2019 campaigns. It demands that Elections Canada also investigate Unifor, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, and the United Steel Workers for assisting Liberal or NDP candidates to help defeat Conservative candidates.
Elections Canada is investigating Rebel Media’s
Ezra Levant for releasing an unflattering book about the Liberal party during the 2019 election campaign. Levant secretly taped and then published videos of the meeting in which he was questioned. It also recently investigated campaign consultant Warren Kinsella for alleged running a smear campaign in 2019 on behalf of the Conservatives against People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier. Kinsella was exonerated.
Such investigations risk contributing to further silencing of political debate in Canada during elections, said John Cameron, a politics professor at Dalhousie University. He has been researching the way well-intended Canadian campaign laws negatively affect participation rates, especially by smaller groups across the political spectrum.
Cameron said he supports laws intended to limit the effect of big money in elections, but believes Canada’s laws can discourage small groups that should be welcome to participate.
He notes Election Canada’s handbook on allowable election activity is 69 pages and was revised three times during the lead up to the 2019 federal campaign.
“Detailed understanding would probably require groups to pay for legal advice. Then they have to register with Elections Canada. There are a series of reports to submit. They need financial agents. They need to open a separate bank account (for) money they’re spending on political advertising,” he said. Managing the compliance burden can severely discourage small groups from participating, he said.
In a December 2019 article, Cameron provided data showing that of “more than 175,000 registered non-profit and charitable organizations in Canada … only 147 registered to report election advertising in 2019” and “only 50 reported spending more than $10,000," the reporting threshold set by Elections Canada.
There also appears to be uncertainty around how organizations can participate using volunteers. A letter to Rightnow from the Commissioner cites a subsection of the Elections Act governing commercial value of non-monetary contributions to campaigns “other than volunteer labour,” which is precisely what Rightnow says it provided.
Myriam Croussette, senior communications officer for the commission, said that while volunteering is exempt, providing recruiting, training and direction of volunteers, even on a voluntary basis, might be considered a campaign contribution violation.
“The commercial value of those ‘services’ may amount to the third party making a non-monetary contribution to candidates or registered parties. Further, any expense incurred in the recruitment, training, or coordination of the volunteers can be used to approximate the value of the non-monetary contribution,” Croussette said in an email.
Hayward is adamant volunteers were specifically told not to identify themselves during campaign as acting on Rightnow’s behalf or to raise pro-life issues while meeting constituents.
He said Rightnow received no remuneration for matching volunteers and candidates. It did file a thirdparty registration form with Elections Canada showing costs of about $8,000 for payroll remittance
WE DIDN’T TELL THE CAMPAIGNS WHAT TO DO.