The chief of Elections Canada says he does not have the resources to oversee party nominations, which have been flagged as vulnerable to foreign interference, and that doing so would impede on political freedom.
Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault, who testified at the Foreign Interference Commission on Sept. 24, said there were around 1,500 nomination contests in the last two elections to determine party candidates.
“The duration of these are unknown to us; they may be a few hours and a few weeks long, but that varies from party to party,” he said, adding that Elections Canada doesn’t have a permanent decentralized infrastructure to manage the oversight.
The option to give Elections Canada the mandate to oversee nominations is “certainly not one that is possible in the system that we have,” Perrault told the commission.
Perrault, however, said the trust of Canadians in party nomination contests and leadership races has been “shaken” by information disclosed at the inquiry and in the report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP).
“For the reason of better protecting the processes, but also reinforcing trust of Canadians, I think it’s important to consider what can be done,” said Perrault.
The commission of inquiry, currently in the current public hearings phase, is now studying the federal government’s ability to counter foreign interference.
Security agencies have raised concerns about the party nomination process, which mostly falls outside the mandate of Elections Canada, as being prone to exploitation by foreign actors.
“I think there’s been a recognition that it is a largely unregulated and therefore an area of vulnerability,” Perrault said.
“Each political party sets and enforces its own rules, and party members can vote in nomination races, regardless of their legal status in Canada,” said the report.
Hostile state actors, by helping shape who wins the nomination in what are considered “safe seats,” can impact who will be elected in the House of Commons without interfering in the general election, said SITE.
The case of People’s Republic of China (PRC) interference in the 2019 Liberal nomination race in the Don Valley North (DVN) riding of Toronto was studied in depth during the previous phase of public hearings.
Canadian citizens and permanent residents aged 14 and older can purchase a Conservative Party membership. Anyone who ordinarily resides in Canada, including non-citizens and non-permanent residents, and is 14 and older can join the Liberal Party free of charge.
“We have a number of controls in place designed to support the integrity of the process as a whole,” said Conservative Party executive director Mike Crase.
Liberal Party national director Azam Ishmael said having residency or citizenship requirements would “in a lot of cases“ put ”an undue burden on people just looking to get active in their democratic spaces.”
Perrault told the inquiry parties have told him in discussions they should have the freedom to determine who runs under their banner, a view he shares in part.
“Parties in Canada have enjoyed, and should continue to enjoy, a certain degree of latitude in deciding not only who runs for them, but what are the circumstances that surround that decision, including to disallow a person to be a candidate for their party,” he said.
Perrault added there are ways to reinforce the nomination and leadership contest rules without taking away the freedom parties enjoy to establish their own processes. He said he will be providing recommendations to the commission at a later time.
