Official: Elections Canada can do little about fake news spread about Singh

OTTAWA — Canada’s chief electoral officer says there’s not much his independent agency can do to counter fake news circulated about a candidate in the midst of an election.

Stéphane Perrault told a House of Commons committee Thursday there are some “minimal rules” that cover impersonation of parties, candidates or Elections Canada officials and some limited forms of disinformation.

But lies spread through social media can’t be regulated by Elections Canada.

In an appearance Thursday before a House of Commons committee, Perrault refused to comment on an ad that falsely suggests NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who is in the midst of a byelection contest in Burnaby South, owns an opulent mansion. But in general, he said there’s no “silver bullet” to eliminate the dissemination of fake news.

The NDP has asked the commissioner of elections, Yves Côté, to investigate the mansion matter.

Côté’s office would not comment Thursday on the NDP’s complaint, other than to say “the allegations will be evaluated based on the case and a determination will be made as to how to proceed.”

Omnibus legislation to modernize Canada’s election laws, passed last December, includes a provision that makes it an offence to make false statements about a candidate for the purpose of influencing the outcome of an election. However, that provision applies quite narrowly to false statements about whether a candidate has broken the law or withdrawn from the election, as well as about a candidate’s citizenship, place of birth, education, professional qualifications or membership in a group.

It does not appear to cover false statements about property ownership.

During testimony on the legislation last fall, Côté warned the provision was too limited and would exclude a whole range of false statements about a candidate’s character or beliefs, such as accusing someone of being racist or homophobic — allegations that “can be among the most serious and the most injurious” and which were previously prohibited.

An ad claiming that Singh owns a $5.5-million mansion popped up recently in an online community newspaper, the Vancouver Courier, with a link to an article about “13 super luxurious celebrity houses” on the Attorney Cocktail website. Singh’s face, which had been superimposed over a photo of one mansion, has since been deleted.

Singh has also been the target of another malicious online article, authored by the self-styled “NBCM News,” (Native Born Canadian Movement), which falsely asserts the NDP leader is wanted for terrorism in more than 15 countries.