Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I would like to begin by thanking the members of this committee for inviting me to testify today. I hope that I can be helpful and provide insightful responses to your questions.
As was said, my name is Jean-Nicolas Bordeleau. I am a Ph.D. student with the Konrad Adenauer research chair in empirical democracy studies at the University of Ottawa. I previously completed a master's degree in political science at the Université de Montréal and a bachelor's degree in political science and psychology at the Royal Military College of Canada.
I have conducted research with the centre for international and defence policy at Queen's University, the electoral integrity project at the Royal Military College of Canada, the Canada research chair in electoral democracy at the Université de Montréal, and more recently with the centre for the study of democratic citizenship at McGill University.
I would like to highlight that I am a political scientist who studies human behaviour. My expertise is centred around the behaviour and attitudes of citizens in the face of threats to democracy and democratic institutions. Specifically, my research considers the impact of information, whether it's misinformation, disinformation or factual information, on citizens' perceptions of electoral integrity, their attitudes towards democracy, as well as their likelihood to participate in the democratic process.
In my time conducting research at the centre for international and defence policy at Queen's University, I had the opportunity to conduct in-depth research on the Government of Canada's response to foreign interference—specifically with regard to federal elections. My research involved a comparative assessment of the election security policies of the Five Eyes countries, including Canada. Therefore, I can confidently say that I have a thorough understanding of the policies and efforts that already exist to mitigate interference, such as the Elections Modernization Act, the security and intelligence threats to elections task force, as well as the critical election incident public protocol.
Based on the scope of my expertise, I can respond to any questions you may have regarding the impact of information and specific election security policies on Canadians. I am able to discuss the effects of foreign electoral interference on voters, as well as the role of misinformation regarding election interference on Canadians' confidence in democratic institutions and elections.
More precisely, I am able to engage in important discussions on a range of topics, including the potential effects of election interference on voter behaviour, the threshold for making information regarding foreign interference efforts public and the lessons we can draw from the election security policies of our Five Eyes partners.
With that being said, I am not in a position to comment on the nature of specific incidents of foreign interference that have been reported in recent media reports. I can, however, draw inference from broader research on foreign electoral interference and apply these findings to the Canadian case.
I would also like to mention that I am going to answer questions from committee members in French or English, in the language in which they are asked. As well, I have provided a copy of my opening statement to the clerk.
Thank you, Madam Chair.