Evidence of meeting #106 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was elections.
A video is available from Parliament.
Acting Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
There are some limitations in the act on the use of the information provided by Elections Canada, but as we've discussed it's very limited.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Beyond that, with regard to parties harvesting individuals' data off of social media websites, buying catalogue subscriptions, all of that, there are no limits on what a party does with all of that data on Canadians.
Acting Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
Not on the party side. There may be on the other entities' transaction side, but not on the party's side.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Yes, but apparently some of the social media giants don't necessarily always follow that.
There's an arm's race when it comes to data. People couldn't have even imagined Cambridge Analytica seven years ago, and they may have helped sway an election or two.
Does this bill properly face the threats that data mining and data manipulation have on our elections?
Acting Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
In my view—and I've made this recommendation—the bill should go further in establishing minimum standards and providing oversight.
Acting Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
Yes, I think those standards at least reflect broadly those—
NDP
Acting Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
With the set of tools that he has already. I don't believe he has fines.
Liberal
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
Thank you so much, Mr. Chair.
Thanks you again for coming back.
I know there's been some discussion in question period around it, but can you briefly discuss the independence of Elections Canada and make clear its independence vis-à-vis the Government of Canada?
Acting Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
Absolutely.
I think there are two aspects of this independence that are at issue in a way in this context. One is on the policy side. Our policy advice is provided through this committee, and the work we do with the government in terms of the bill is on the technical side. It's very valuable, but it's technical work.
In terms of the implementation, we are masters of what we decide. Nobody can order us to do implementation work, and nobody has even suggested that. That's part of the risk management that I'm responsible for, to make sure we are ready to conduct the election, either on the current set of rules or on a set of rules as they may evolve as we get closer to the election.
Liberal
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
You talked about entities engaging in other election systems in terms of undermining the integrity. Perhaps there isn't any change to the data, but it undermines the integrity. That's a problem across the board, and we're seeing that in western democracies.
Similarly, is it dangerous to have elected members of Parliament questioning the independence of Elections Canada and its role in providing for our elections?
Acting Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
If elected members have a concern about the independence, they should feel free to clarify that point. I'm happy to clarify that there is no issue of independence here.
Liberal
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
If I can go back to your recommendations in terms of privacy principles, we talked about PIPEDA and your requirements. What would this look like?
It's one good thing to say that privacy should be protected, and that's something everyone agrees on, but, nuts and bolts, what does that look like for a party official or party volunteer?
Acting Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
I think the bill could provide that the policy of the party must abide by certain standards, such as those found in PIPEDA. We can examine those and provide guidance to the parties ahead of time as to what these standards are.
I'm not sure I'm answering the question. Is that what you're getting at in terms of the specific amendments I'm proposing to this bill?
Acting Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
In terms of the policy, we can come back with some more details. My notes here are fairly general, and I would be happy, if the committee wants to have some more detailed recommendations, to do that, but essentially I would be working with the Privacy Commissioner in that regard. We could provide some language to ensure the policies are reflective of the basic standards that you normally find in privacy legislation. We could also provide some language with regard to the oversight role of the Privacy Commissioner.
Liberal
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
I would appreciate more detail on that point, because sometimes we get into—and it's a good intention and it's coming up with policies—that it's one thing to apply it to a party official who's working at the party headquarters but it's another thing for a party volunteer who's working on a local campaign. Have you taken that into account? Even the difference between a Liberal in St. Catharines who is working on a campaign that's well funded and for which there are lots of volunteers versus a Liberal in rural Alberta where there may be just a couple of people—or one; I was being generous with two—trying to put together.... There are differences between volunteers in terms of their quality and quantity.
Are those being taken into account when we're talking about requirements to abide by federal privacy legislation?
Acting Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Canada
I think that's a very important point. I think we have to be careful not to put everybody in the same situation. I don't think local campaigns are in the same category as parties. They don't amass large amounts of information. Over time, they don't accumulate that information. They don't do the same kind of work in terms of fundraising the same way that parties do. We have to recognize that local campaigns are run largely by volunteers, so I am not proposing that this bill be amended in a way to deal with candidates' campaigns. I think the important point and I think what Canadians expect is that the party databases, which are quite significant, should be subject to some standards and they should be accountable to those standards.
Liberal
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
In addition to Bill C-76 provisions aiming to prevent misinformation in advertising, is Elections Canada taking any proactive measures to prevent bots and other malicious media manipulators that could impact elections?
