Certainly.
Paragraph 91(1)(b) of the Canada Elections Act, as it currently exists, prohibits certain types of false or misleading statements. It prohibits those sorts of statements not only about candidates, prospective candidates and leaders of political parties but also about “a public figure associated with a political party.”
One of the issues I was raising is this: Who does that encompass? What sorts of individuals might fall within that final category of “public figure associated with a political party”? I simply wanted to raise this issue for your attention because there can be a chilling effect with these laws. In the context of elections, political speech is regarded as sitting at the apex of freedom of expression under paragraph 2(b) of the charter. To the extent that some of our laws may chill the expression of political information and views, I think that's a problem.
The key for you, as policy-makers, is to ensure these laws are clear, understandable and can be known in advance, so we know what's onside and what's offside. I think that's critical.