A democratic watchdog is calling on Ottawa to make substantial amendments to legislation to clean up Canadian elections.

Democracy Watch’s Co-founder Duff Conacher says without amendments Bill C-65 An Act to Amend the Canada Elections Act (CEA) would leave large loopholes that would allow for foreign and other undue influence.

Conacher made his suggestions to the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics on November 5, but issued a more thorough 19-page submission outlining details later.

Bill C-65 expands CEA prohibitions on the kinds of false claims that political campaigns are not allowed to make. However, Conacher wants it illegal for campaigns to lie in elections whatsoever.

“It makes no sense to prohibit some false claims but allow other false claims, and it makes no sense to require proof that the false claim was intended to influence or even disrupt the election,” he writes. “False statements mislead voters.”

However, Conacher also wants the government to censor disinformation and misinformation online. Here, complaints about disinformation would go to federal agencies, boards, commissions, and tribunals. These bodies would be empowered to order Internet and social media companies to remove false posts and webpages and “penalize misleaders with significant fines.”

Conacher also complains that foreign entities are only banned from “inducing voters” during an election. He says C-65 should also ban such interference in a nomination race or party leadership contest.

The watchdog complains C-65 would make things worse by increasing the threshold of spending by which a third party can spend in a pre-election period without registering their activities.

“Given the low costs of generating ads and videos through AI, and reaching voters through social media and texts and robocalls, the registration threshold should be reduced to $100, not increased to $1,500,” Conacher writes. He also wants $100 to be the limit on such spending for an individual or business, and for $75 to be the ceiling for political donations by an individual.

The Hogue Inquiry has heard extensive evidence on how foreign interference was facilitated by allowing foreigners and people under the age of 18 from voting in nomination and party leadership contests. Conacher says Bill C-65 should declare those people ineligible from voting in those contests and not wait for the Hogue Inquiry to recommend it.

One proposal would require nomination contestants, candidates, EDAs, parties and party leadership contestants to publicly disclose, before voting begins, their staff, top-level volunteers, fundraisers (and amounts raised and how) by, and require them to disclose the identities of all volunteers to Elections Canada.

Another proposal would prohibit lobbyists from sponsoring interns in MP offices.

Conacher also wants the Chief Electoral Officer to present a report to Parliament on electoral voting reform, presenting the benefits and drawbacks of each system.

Democracy Watch has often complained that the prime minister and cabinet don’t give enough independence to the appointment and function of offices and organizations that would keep them accountable.

In response, Conacher’s organization calls for fully independent, merit-based appointment processes for all key watchdogs, appointing them to serve for a fixed term of 5-7 years, fully independent from Cabinet with dismissal only for cause. He also wants a new, fully independent police force to take over from the RCMP and FINTRAC enforcement of laws pertaining to foreign interference, corruption, money laundering, and proceeds of crime.

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