Bill C-76 (Historical)

Elections Modernization Act

An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and other Acts and to make certain consequential amendments

This enactment amends the Canada Elections Act to establish spending limits for third parties and political parties during a defined period before the election period of a general election held on a day fixed under that Act. It also establishes measures to increase transparency regarding the participation of third parties in the electoral process. Among other things that it does in this regard, the enactment
(a) adds reporting requirements for third parties engaging in partisan activities, partisan advertising, and election surveys to the reporting requirements for third parties engaging in election advertising;
(b) creates an obligation for third parties to open a separate bank account for expenses related to the matters referred to in paragraph (a); and
(c) creates an obligation for political parties and third parties to identify themselves in partisan advertising during the defined period before the election period.
The enactment also amends the Act to implement measures to reduce barriers to participation and increase accessibility. Among other things that it does in this regard, the enactment
(a) establishes a Register of Future Electors in which Canadian citizens 14 to 17 years of age may consent to be included;
(b) broadens the application of accommodation measures to all persons with a disability, irrespective of its nature;
(c) creates a financial incentive for registered parties and candidates to take steps to accommodate persons with a disability during an election period;
(d) amends some of the rules regarding the treatment of candidates’ expenses, including the rules related to childcare expenses, expenses related to the care of a person with a disability and litigation expenses;
(e) amends the rules regarding the treatment of nomination contestants’ and leadership contestants’ litigation expenses and personal expenses;
(f) allows Canadian Forces electors access to several methods of voting, while also adopting measures to ensure the integrity of the vote;
(g) removes limitations on public education and information activities conducted by the Chief Electoral Officer;
(h) removes two limitations on voting by non-resident electors: the requirement that they have been residing outside Canada for less than five consecutive years and the requirement that they intend to return to Canada to resume residence in the future; and
(i) extends voting hours on advance polling days.
The enactment also amends the Act to modernize voting services, facilitate enforcement and improve various aspects of the administration of elections and of political financing. Among other things that it does in this regard, the enactment
(a) removes the assignment of specific responsibilities set out in the Act to specific election officers by creating a generic category of election officer to whom all those responsibilities may be assigned;
(b) limits election periods to a maximum of 50 days;
(c) removes administrative barriers in order to facilitate the hiring of election officers;
(d) authorizes the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to provide the Chief Electoral Officer with information about permanent residents and foreign nationals for the purpose of updating the Register of Electors;
(e) removes the prohibition on the Chief Electoral Officer authorizing the notice of confirmation of registration (commonly known as a “voter information card”) as identification;
(f) replaces, in the context of voter identification, the option of attestation for residence with an option of vouching for identity and residence;
(g) removes the requirement for electors’ signatures during advance polls, changes procedures for the closing of advance polls and allows for counting ballots from advance polls one hour before the regular polls close;
(h) replaces the right or obligation to take an oath with a right or obligation to make a solemn declaration, and streamlines the various declarations that electors may have the right or obligation to make under specific circumstances;
(i) relocates the Commissioner of Canada Elections to within the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, and provides that the Commissioner is to be appointed by the Chief Electoral Officer, after consultation with the Director of Public Prosecutions, for a non-renewable term of 10 years;
(j) provides the Commissioner of Canada Elections with the authority to impose administrative monetary penalties for contraventions of provisions of Parts 16, 17 and 18 of the Act and certain other provisions of the Act;
(k) provides the Commissioner of Canada Elections with the authority to lay charges;
(l) provides the Commissioner of Canada Elections with the power to apply for a court order requiring testimony or a written return;
(m) clarifies offences relating to
(i) the publishing of false statements,
(ii) participation by non-Canadians in elections, including inducing electors to vote or refrain from voting, and
(iii) impersonation; and
(n) implements a number of measures to harmonize and streamline political financing monitoring and reporting.
The enactment also amends the Act to provide for certain requirements with regard to the protection of personal information for registered parties, eligible parties and political parties that are applying to become registered parties, including the obligation for the party to adopt a policy for the protection of personal information and to publish it on its Internet site.
The enactment also amends the Parliament of Canada Act to prevent the calling of a by-election when a vacancy in the House of Commons occurs within nine months before the day fixed for a general election under the Canada Elections Act.
It also amends the Public Service Employment Act to clarify that the maximum period of employment of casual workers in the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer — 165 working days in one calendar year — applies to those who are appointed by the Commissioner of Canada Elections.
Finally, the enactment contains transitional provisions, makes consequential amendments to other Acts and repeals the Special Voting Rules.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

I am pleased about this. Indeed, for everyone I've known, this situation was not simple.

I now have a more specific question to ask you. Since the introduction of Bill C-76, the Chief Electoral Officer has stated that the bill does not go far enough to prevent the transmission of misleading information. Should this bill be strengthened so that organizations and individuals do not intentionally mislead the public about elections?

As you know, there are many ways to make information questionable, unsound and non-transparent. What can we do about it?

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Like our colleague Mrs. Kusie, my brother worked in embassies, and did so for 20 years. I have also known expatriates. It wasn't easy to exercise your right to vote outside Canada.

How would Bill C-76 make it easier for these people to exercise their right to vote outside the country?

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I would like to welcome the minister and the people accompanying her.

The other day, the Chief Electoral Officer appeared before the committee. Following his testimony, I wondered something. As a result of the amendments proposed in Bill C-76, how many Canadians could exercise their right to vote outside the country? Has this already been identified?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Democratic Institutions]

Thank you very much, Chair, and the committee, for inviting me here again. I am delighted to be back with my officials to look into BillC-76 before you start your clause-by-clause study of the legislation.

I'd like to thank you for your commitment to study Bill C-76, the elections modernization act. I truly appreciate the hard work you have already put into studying this pivotal piece of legislation, one that will, I believe, help strengthen our electoral laws and safeguard our future elections at the federal level here in Canada.

Our government is committed to strengthening Canada's democratic institutions and restoring Canadians' trust and participation in our democratic process.

I firmly believe that the strength of our democracy depends on the participation of as many Canadians as possible. I also firmly believe that the elections modernization act is the right piece of legislation to make our electoral process more accessible for all Canadians.

This bill will reduce the barriers to participation that Canadians currently face when voting or participating in the democratic process in general.

No Canadian should face barriers to voting, whether they live abroad, are in the Canadian Forces, are studying at university or are without a fixed address.

Reinstating the voter identification card as a proof of residency means making voting easier for more Canadians. Restoring the option of vouching for another eligible Canadian means making voting easier for more Canadians. Voting is a right, and it is our responsibility to make voting accessible to as many Canadians as possible.

Through Bill C-76, we are extending accommodation measures to include all people with disabilities, not just those with physical disabilities.

The bill will increase support and assistance to voters with disabilities at polling stations, regardless of their type of disability, and will provide them with the opportunity to vote at home.

Canadians with disabilities may also find it more difficult to participate in political campaigns because campaign materials in offices are not accessible. Bill C-76 will encourage political parties and candidates to accommodate electors with disabilities by creating a financial incentive through reimbursement of expenses related to accommodating measures. For example, this would include sign language interpretation during an event and making the format of material more accessible.

This bill also amends election expenses so that candidates with disabilities and candidates caring for a young family member who is ill or disabled find it easier to run for election.

The bill will allow candidates to use their own funds, in addition to campaign funds, to pay for disability-related expenses, child care costs or other relevant expenses related to home care or health care. These expenses will be reimbursed up to 90%.

Our Canadian Armed Forces members make tremendous sacrifices in protecting and defending our democracy. The elections modernization act will make it easier for our soldiers, sailors and air personnel to participate in our democracy. It allows our CAF members the same flexibility as other Canadians in choosing where to cast their ballot, whether it be to vote at regular polls where they reside in Canada, to vote abroad, to vote at advanced polls, or to vote in special military polls as they currently do.

Many of us have constituents in our ridings who have lived in Canada but who are currently living abroad. Whether they are there to work or study, Canadians living abroad should always have the opportunity to participate in our democratic process and to express themselves on issues that affect them.

Bill C-76 will remove the requirement that non-resident electors must have been residing outside Canada for fewer than five years. It will also remove the requirement that non-resident electors intend to return to Canada to resume residence in the future. This will extend voting rights to over one million Canadians who are living abroad.

As a federal government, it is our responsibility to make it easier and more convenient for Canadians to vote. This includes their experience during the voting process, whether it is at the advance polls or on election day.

The elections modernization act provides Canadians with more flexibility by increasing the hours of advance polls to 12-hour days. We will also streamline the intake procedures during regular and advance polls.

This bill will also expand the use of mobile polling stations on advance polling days and election day to better serve remote, isolated or low-density communities.

For Canadians to participate fully in their democratic right to vote, they must first know when, where and how to vote. Historically, Elections Canada has conducted various educational activities with Canadians as part of its election administration mandate.

In 2014, the previous government limited the Chief Electoral Officer's education mandate, removing the CEO's abilities to offer education programs to new Canadians and historically disenfranchised groups.

Our government believes that we should empower Canadians to vote and participate in our democracy. We believe that the Chief Electoral Officer should be able to communicate with all Canadians on how to exercise their democratic right.

This is not about partisanship. This is about providing electors with information related to the logistics of voting, such as where, when and how to cast a vote. We want Canadians to be ready for election day, no matter what political party they vote for.

This also means preparing first-time voters. The creation of a register of future electors will allow Canadian citizens between the ages of 14 and 17 to register with Elections Canada. When they turn 18, they will be automatically be added to the voters list.

While more young people voted in 2015 than in previous elections—57% of voters aged 18 to 24 voted—their rate of participation was still lower than that of older Canadians. In fact, 78% of voters aged 65 to 74 voted. This measure will encourage more young Canadians to participate in our democratic process.

As the Minister of Democratic Institutions, it is my responsibility to ensure we maintain the trust of Canadians in our democratic process. The elections modernization act will make it more difficult for election lawbreakers to evade punishment by strengthening the powers of the commissioner of Canada elections and offering a wider range of tools for enforcement.

By making the Commissioner of Canada Elections more independent and giving him new powers to enforce the Canada Elections Act and investigate violations, we will continue to work to ensure the strength and security of our democratic institutions.

The commissioner of Canada elections will be independent from the government, moving back to Elections Canada and reporting to Parliament though the Chief Electoral Officer rather than a senior member of cabinet.

He will also have new powers with the administrative option to impose monetary penalties for minor violations of the act related to election advertising, political financing, third-party expenses and minor voting violations. Most importantly, he will also have the power to lay charges without the prior approval of the director of public prosecutions and will be able to seek a court order to compel a witness to testify during an investigation of electoral offences.

Through budget 2018, the government allocated $7.1 million over five years, beginning in 2019, to support the work of the office of the commissioner of Canada elections. This funding will help ensure the Canadian electoral process continues to uphold the highest standards of democracy.

Many Canadians are concerned about the consequences and influence of money on our political process. With Bill C-76, we are ensuring that our electoral process is more transparent and fair. The bill creates a pre-election period beginning on June 30 of the year of the fixed-date election and ending with the issuance of the writ.

During the pre-election period, third parties will have a spending limit of approximately $1 million, adjusted to inflation, with a maximum of $10,000 per electoral district. This spending limit will include all partisan advertising, partisan activities and election surveys. During the election period, there will be a spending limit of approximately $500,000, and a maximum of $4,000 per electoral district in 2019.

This legislation will require third parties that spend more than $500 on partisan advertising and activities during the pre-writ and writ period to register with Elections Canada. Third parties will also be required to open a dedicated Canadian bank account and use identifying tag lines on all partisan advertising. These measures will ensure greater transparency and provide Canadians with more information with respect to who is trying to influence their decision.

The Government of Canada must ensure that our democratic institutions are modern, transparent and accessible to all Canadians. We are committed to maintaining and strengthening the confidence of Canadians in our democratic process.

Building on the recommendations of the Chief Electoral Officer and the work of this committee, the elections modernization act will improve Canadians' trust and confidence in Canada's electoral system.

I look forward to your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

I call the meeting to order.

Good afternoon. Welcome to the 123rd meeting of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.

For members' information, today's meeting is being televised as we continue our study of Bill C-76, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and other Acts and to make certain consequential amendments.

We are pleased to be joined by the Honourable Karina Gould, Minister of Democratic Institutions. She is accompanied by officials from the Privy Council Office: Manon Paquet, Senior Policy Advisor, and Jean-François Morin, Senior Policy Advisor.

Thank you, Minister Gould, for coming back. I will turn the floor over to you for some opening remarks.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Okay. Thank you for that.

“May” has been interpreted in Parliament in several ways. Sometimes governments loathe “may”, and what they actually meant was “shall” and “must”.

There is a second concern that we have. The negotiations that I assume have happened between the government and the Conservative official opposition were primarily around what's included at the very end of Ruby's motion, that there is now a pre-election spending limit of $1.4 million.

I have an inquiry to the government as to what that means for 2019. This is pro-rated to inflation, is it not? “Adjusted to inflation” is the more correct term. It comes out to somewhere near $2 million in a pre-writ period. I'm still seeking to know what that will be in 2023 through inflationary numbers. This is not an insignificant amount of money.

I can't help but reflect—and Ruby will understand why this is interesting or ironic—that at the end of our last efforts at democratic reform, the ERRE committee made negotiations between me, the Greens, the Bloc, and the Conservatives to arrive at a report that we could agree to. The then minister of democratic reform expressed such disappointment with me that we would ever negotiate with Conservatives over anything to do with our elections. I thought that was the point, actually. I thought the point of that exercise was to try to come to some multipartisan agreement.

I have to register this. While I appreciate that there has been whatever back channel negotiations among the parties, if the process required unanimous consent, it would have been a really good idea to contact us more than five minutes before the meeting to understand what was being negotiated. It's hard for us to feel particularly respected or included if a piece of paper is dropped on our desk five minutes before the meeting.

All that being said, as my grandma used to say, a lack of planning on my part didn't make for a crisis on hers. However, here we are, having blown through the Chief Electoral Officer's deadlines on making some reforms. He's told us that he can't do a bunch of things in Bill C-76 because so much time has been lost that it's not going to happen for the next election. There are some really good things actually, if we were to pass them as a committee. That is unfortunate, and that was unnecessary, in my mind.

It seems that the Liberals are okay with increasing the spending limits. Chair, I question that as a principle in terms of the fairness of the election. Parties that have more will do more and be able to influence more.

There is a cap, which is appreciated, but it's a significant cap. To most Canadians, $2 million is a lot of money. To most third party civil society groups, $2 million is an unimaginable amount of money to spend in an election period. They'll never attain that kind of influence.

However, we prefer and favour parties all the time in our legislation, as you know, Chair, over the voices of others. Parties are protected.

The last thing I'll say, and I'll wrap up, is that I hope this is seen—if we support this—as good faith towards some of the amendments we have, around some of the other important things we've heard evidence on from our Chief Electoral Officer, the Privacy Commissioner, and others, about making our elections truly fair. We've tried to only put forward amendments that were based on evidence, and particularly around things like privacy and the intervention of social media.

I don't know if folks are following Cambridge Analytica and what the ethics committee is looking at right now. There was a report on the CBC this morning, on The Current, with a member of that committee. It is incredibly disturbing, and we are incredibly unprepared.

Our British colleagues were unprepared for having a free and fair vote on their Brexit decision, where a Canadian company was receiving what I think were illegal funds to then influence British voters.

We have fewer protections than the British do as the law sits right now. Some of our amendments are attempting to fix those holes, plug those holes, so that our elections, our referenda, are fought fairly, and not with outside money from foreign governments and foreign interference.

All that said, there's a bit of nose holding on this, to see this thing through. But in the larger effort of fixing the damage that was done in the previous Parliament to our ability to vote freely in this country, we're prepared to vote for this. That's with the understanding of some good faith intention as we move forward with further clause-by-clause consideration and the amendments we've brought forward.

[The Clerk]

The text of the motion is, again:

That the Hon. Karina Gould, Minister of Democratic Institutions, be invited to appear from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, October 15, 2018, in relation to the study of Bill C-76;

That the committee commence clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-76 on Monday, October 15, 2018 at 4:30 p.m.;

That the Chair be empowered to hold meetings outside of normal hours to accommodate clause-by-clause consideration;

That the Chair may limit debate on each clause to a maximum of five minutes per party, per clause;

That if the committee has not completed the clause-by-clause consideration of the Bill by 1:00 p.m. on Friday, October 19, 2018, all remaining amendments submitted to the Committee shall be deemed moved, the Chair shall put the question, forthwith and successively, without further debate on all remaining clauses and proposed amendments, as well as each and every question necessary to dispose of clause-by-clause consideration of the bill, as well as questions necessary to report the Bill to the House and to order the Chair to report the bill to the House as soon as possible; and

That Bill C-76, in Clause 262, be amended by replacing line 32 on page 153 with the following: "election period is $1,400,000."

[The Clerk of the Committee, Mr. Andrew Lauzon]

The motion is as follows:

That the Hon. Karina Gould, Minister of Democratic Institutions, be invited to appear from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, October 15, 2018, in relation to the study of Bill C-76;

That the Committee commence clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-76 on Monday, October 15, 2018, at 4:30 p.m.;

That the Chair be empowered to hold meetings outside of the normal hours to accommodate clause-by-clause consideration;

That the Chair may limit the debate on each clause to a maximum of five minutes per party, per clause;

That if the committee has not completed the clause-by-clause consideration of the Bill by 1:00 p.m. on Friday, October 19, 2018, all remaining amendments submitted to the Committee shall be deemed moved, the Chair shall put the question, forthwith and successively, without further debate on all remaining clauses and proposed amendments, as well as each and every question necessary to dispose of clause-by-clause consideration of the Bill, as well as questions necessary to report the Bill to the House and to order the Chair to report to the House as soon as possible; and,

That Bill C-76, in Clause 262, be amended by replacing line 32 on page 153 with the following: “election period is $1,400,000.”

[Ruby Sahota, Liberal, Brampton North, ON]

(Subamendment withdrawn)

(Amendment withdrawn)

(Motion withdrawn)

Thank you.

The new motion is:

That the Hon. Karina Gould, Minister of Democratic Institutions, be invited to appear from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, October 15, 2018, in relation to the study of Bill C-76;

That the Committee commence clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-76 on Monday, October 15, 2018 at 4:30 p.m.;

That the Chair be empowered to hold meetings outside of normal hours to accommodate clause-by-clause consideration;

That the Chair may limit debate on each clause to a maximum of five minutes per party, per clause;

That if the Committee has not completed the clause-by-clause consideration of the Bill by 1:00 p.m. on Friday, October 19, 2018, all remaining amendments submitted to the Committee shall be deemed moved, the Chair shall put the question, forthwith and successively, without further debate on all remaining clauses and proposed amendments, as well as each and every question necessary to dispose of clause-by-clause consideration of the Bill, as well as questions necessary to report the Bill to the House and to order the Chair to report the Bill to the House as soon as possible; and,

That Bill C-76, in Clause 232, be amended to—

Sorry, I have an error. Can we double-check? I had it written down incorrectly, so I just want to make sure the clause we're amending is not 232, but in fact is 262.

There's a minor correction:

That Bill C-76, in Clause 262, be amended by replacing line 32 on page 153 with the following: “election period is $1,400,000.”

[Ruby Sahota, Liberal, Brampton North, ON]

Mr. Chair, I want to propose that we try to seek unanimous consent for the following: That Mr. Reid's subamendment and Mr. Nater's amendment to my motion respecting the scheduling of the clause-by-clause of Bill C-76 be deemed withdrawn, and that my previous motion be amended so that it now reads—and I can read the motion, if you would like.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

Good morning and welcome to the 122nd meeting of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.

For members' information, this meeting is being held in public. It's great to have Bill Curry here.

Remember from Tuesday's meeting that we're carrying on discussion of scheduling for clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-76.

Ruby, you wanted to speak.

[Prof. Michael Pal]

Some systems, a federal one, has a monetary amount, so Bill C-76 is going to eliminate that for foreign entities' advertising but it would still be there for domestic entities. B.C. did not have a monetary amount and there's a recent case in front of the Supreme Court of Canada trying to interpret what it means if you buy crayons and your kid puts up a political sign in the window, so having some kind of a monetary threshold I think is useful. It potentially stops over-enforcement of small political advertising.

[Prof. Michael Pal]

I don't have any information about that particular case. I believe C-76 requires third parties to have their own separate bank accounts, so that is one technical way of addressing the transfer of funds.

Constitutionally, you're on very solid ground to restrict spending. The Supreme Court has spoken about that. As for registration and transparency rules, the Supreme Court has spoken about that as well. There is also the question of contribution limits, in terms of donations to political parties and candidates. What's more controversial is whether you could or should have contribution limits for third parties.

Certainly B.C., in its referendum campaign on electoral reform, has limits on how much you can contribute to an advertising sponsor, and I believe this applies to their provincial elections as well. That does have an impact on political expression if you're restricting how much money.... Say a union or a corporation wants to spend its own money as a third party, how do you regulate that as a contribution? There are constitutional questions there but that's one way of addressing the movement of money between different entities, by treating it like a contribution.

[Dr. Elizabeth Dubois]

I don't know the details of the Leadnow case. I know only what made the news headlines. I think, however, that it's a very important point when we're having these conversations about personal data use. With something like what C-76 has put forward for the requirements of a privacy statement, which already isn't very enforceable in the context of that bill, and which I think needs to change, it's very unclear how that then plays into the relationship between those parties and the third parties you've brought forward.

I think we need to be clearer about that. I don't have a specific recommendation on how to solve that problem, but I think it's a crucial one.

[Prof. Michael Pal]

Thank you for your question. I'm going to answer it in English in order to be very precise.

Bill C-76 closes one of the loopholes that was still existing for foreign interference. It was already illegal for foreign entities to interfere in a Canadian election, but there was a loophole if you spent under $500. Five hundred dollars actually can get you a lot of Facebook ads in some markets. It would close that loophole. That's a very important measure.

How much does it cost to send mass WhatsApp messages or to advertise on Xbox? I don't know the answer to that. Those are emerging uses. Perhaps my colleagues have a sense on numbers. It's not clear how that affects other platforms, but certainly in terms of Facebook or Twitter advertising I think that helps.

I think the information is that third parties are playing an increasing role. There was a much larger number of third parties in the last federal election than there had been in previous elections. I think it's reasonable to expect that to continue. Third parties are basically only heavily regulated in terms of their spending during the election campaign, which is a relatively short period. Obviously you can try to influence voters before the official campaign starts, something that political parties have obviously realized, but also third parties.

I have been an advocate in my academic work for implementing pre-writ...so before the official election campaign rules, some of which are in Bill C-76. The spending limits would apply to what's called “partisan advertising” in the pre-writ period. I really welcome that. I actually think the pre-writ period should be longer. I said that to your colleagues at the procedure committee.

But we have a permanent campaign. Third parties have figured that out. There are other jurisdictions that take an even more aggressive.... Should there be disclosure of advertising by third parties in the full year leading up to the fixed election date? Should there be spending limits? I think there's a really good argument that there should be.