Okay. Thank you.
I would just say that I do think these loopholes need to be closed—to the extent that they exist, and I believe they do exist—because elections should be decided by Canadians free from foreign influence, including foreign funds. It has been a real problem. It's not just a hypothetical problem. It is a real problem that has been exploited at present by third parties.
On a different matter, this committee undertook a study on the malicious activities of the so-called longest ballot committee. We produced a unanimous report with recommendations to curtail the longest ballot committee or other malicious actors from weaponizing the ballot and disrupting the democratic process in future elections and by-elections. I'm pleased to see that most of the committee's recommendations are incorporated into Bill C-25.
One recommendation, however, that has not been incorporated into the bill is “That the Canada Elections Act be amended to provide for penalties when signatures are obtained on a nomination paper before a candidate has been identified.” There was evidence that the longest ballot committee may have, in some instances, induced electors to sign nomination forms on which the candidate's name was blank, only to fill in the candidate's name after the fact, upon recruiting one of their fake candidates.
The intent of the act is that a candidate must receive the endorsement of at least 100 electors in a riding to get onto the ballot. Signing a blank nomination form is clearly contrary to the spirit of the act, yet this type of mischief can occur without penalty. In my view, an amendment should be brought to close this loophole. What are your thoughts?