Mr. Speaker, one of the biggest priorities we have as parliamentarians is safeguarding our democracy. Without free and fair elections with voters able to choose for themselves whom to support, what we do here and say is meaningless. Ensuring that the way we conduct elections is free from malicious control is one of the most important things we can do. Protecting democratic principles is not a partisan issue. Those on the left, those on the right and those in between are in agreement. We trust people to make the right choice as long as they have the opportunity to do so in a setting where the influence of those with bad intent has been lessened. I say lessened because, even with our best efforts, there are always going to be those, especially in foreign governments, who are going to attempt to interfere with our political electoral process. Governments elsewhere may have a different agenda from Canada's. They will naturally want, if possible, to shape our way of thinking. Dealing with those attempts is one of the reasons for Bill C-25, the strong and free elections act.
Before I forget, I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith.
Put simply, this bill would, among other things, establish new prohibitions and modify existing prohibitions, including, in relation to foreign influence in the electoral process, accepting or offering a bribe, unauthorized use of a computer and making or publishing false or misleading information respecting elections and the candidate nomination process. The bill would establish new prohibitions in relation to voting in a nomination contest or leadership contest; prohibit the acceptance or use of certain contributions by political entities and third parties, including from anonymous sources; and it would provide for new requirements relating to political parties' policies for the protection of personal information.
Combatting foreign interference has become a bigger challenge in recent years as so many of us get our information online. Disinformation and misinformation run rampant. Truth is hard to find. We can be subtly shaped without even realizing it. Of course, we have always been subject to foreign influence. Fifty years ago, it was the prevalence of American television programming that was a major concern. Influencing the culture and shifting it to our direction is something we need to be aware of, but it is the effort of foreign governments, not cultural influencers, that is what we are looking at with this legislation; though sometimes, admittedly, governments can be behind the cultural influencers. We have had inquiries. The results have been, in a way, frustrating. We know that there have been attempts at foreign interference in our elections and our nomination contests, perhaps even in the leadership races. However, we do not know with any certainty whether the interference has changed the outcome of the results of any particular riding. We can say, though, that it was the intent to do so.
Conservatives have long called for the strengthening of protections against foreign interference, including during leadership and nomination contests. It is good to see that Bill C-25 would address this issue. It is good to see that this legislation would change the Canada Elections Act respecting nomination contests and leadership contests. It makes sense to prohibit foreigners and foreign entities from unduly influencing an elector to vote or to refrain from voting in a nomination or leadership contest. We want Canadians to make their choices without interference from foreign capitals.
It also makes sense to prohibit persons and entities from selling advertising space to a foreign entity to transmit a message to influence another person to vote or to refrain from voting for a particular nomination contestant or leadership contestant. The only real question is why we have not done this sooner. Given all that we have heard about foreign interference in the past few years, I am surprised that the government has not acted with more speed on this matter.
I am also surprised that we had not previously thought about the necessity of prohibiting people from offering a bribe to influence how a person votes in a nomination or leadership contest. We already make it an offence to offer or accept a bribe during an election, so it makes sense that we extend this to the nomination and leadership contests that are such an important part of our democracy.
Like all members in the House, I receive a lot of correspondence from constituents on issues of the day. A lot of those letters and emails are complaints about Liberal policies. I understand that. I have a few complaints about Liberal policies myself. Too often, though, the complaints are based on wild theories circulating on the Internet that have no basis in truth. Misinformation and disinformation is running rampant. I am not sure that we will ever be able to eliminate it, but we can try.
The bill would create a new offence for making or publishing, with the intention of affecting the results or disrupting the conduct of an election, a statement that they know is false or misleading. That makes sense to me. Truth is important. Those who are lying for political gain need to be exposed and punished.
The bill would also bring in the “unauthorized use of a computer” offence to include “disrupting the conduct of an election” as opposed to solely affecting the results of an election. That, to me, is a better reflection of reality and perhaps easier to prove.
Expanding the scope to what is captured as a false or misleading publication and impersonation to include AI and deepfakes also makes sense. One can find both the Prime Minister and the leader of the official opposition online, along with Hollywood celebrities, pushing various get-rich-quick schemes. We know those are fake, but they can be convincing. As artificial intelligence software improves, it will get even harder to spot the difference between real and fake.
During an election campaign, these deepfake images could be used for political advantage. It is important for the integrity of the election process to clamp down on them. As politicians, we need to make sure that our own houses are in order. We need to adhere to the highest standards, not just for public confidence in the process, but because it is the right thing to do.
Requiring political parties to establish a more comprehensive policy for the protection of personal information than is currently provided for under the act is important. The public needs to see that we are holding ourselves to the highest standards. That means working harder to safeguard electors' personal information under the party's control and making sure that we protect the privacy of those whose information we hold. We need to lead by example.
As parliamentarians, it is vital that we address these issues. We want free and fair elections and a democracy that is the envy the world, not one riddled with foreign interference.