Ottawa eyes limits to election drives
The minister responsible for elections reform says she is aiming to introduce legislation this fall that could impose a time limit on election campaigns.
In an interview, Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould outlined changes her office is considering — including how to deal with foreign “actors” who she said are “getting ever more creative.”
A House of Commons committee recommended in June that a maximum election writ period be set at 43 days, more than a month shorter than the unprecedented 78-day campaign in 2015.
The chief electoral officer concluded after the last federal election that having no limit on the length of a campaign increased uncertainty for everyone except the incumbent government. Gould said there is “value” in the idea of setting a limit.
“(The election in) 2015 was an anomaly,” she said. “I think it goes back to our political culture, right — in terms of what Canadians are used to, what they expect from elections, when they really start to tune in and turn on in terms of when they’re getting engaged.”
Gould said spending is another big part of why a change could make sense, since limits increase by the day. “Canadians also want to know there’s a reasonable amount of money (being spent). … Level the playing field, in terms of which candidates can participate more fully.”
Another “big piece” of potential new laws could change how third parties, such as advocacy groups, can participate in election campaigns.
“With the new normal of having fixed-date elections, we’re considering what that means. We don’t really want to be in a perpetual election cycle,” Gould said. “Canadians are engaged between elections, but they don’t necessarily want to be campaigned at.”
That said, Gould conceded there has been no discussion around getting rid of fixed election dates altogether, partly because there is benefit to having some predictability.
At present, third-party groups only need to report their finances in the six months leading up to an election, something many have said needs to change. A Senate committee report this spring also recommended random audits of third parties be conducted outside writ periods to encourage compliance with elections rules.
Gould said her office is “looking at” expanding reporting requirements beyond the six-month lead-up, but she expressed some concerns about auditing.
The Senate report on potential foreign influence in Canadian elections also recommended a penalty should be created for people who create and distribute false campaign material, such as websites or social media content, with the intention to mislead.
“There are outside actors that are getting ever more creative, so we need to be alive and alert to what those mechanisms are that they could be using,” Gould said.
But she cautioned lawmakers will have to be careful about how to deal with so-called fake news. “We also want to make sure that we’re providing protections for satire; legitimate reasons why you may be impersonating a candidate or political party.”
Nothing is set in stone. But a couple of bills are still making their way through parliament under Gould’s supervision. One, Bill C-50, is on political fundraising rules — introduced after the Liberals garnered criticism for closed-door, big-ticket dinners — and another, Bill C-33, seeks to repeal parts of the Conservative-era “Fair Elections Act.”