Misinformation and foreign interference are two of the biggest threats facing Canada’s electoral system, and it will take all those who work together to oppose them, said the chief guardian of Canada’s election.
Speaking in an interview with CBC News to mark the end of his 10-year term as Canada’s election commissioner, Yves Kote said online disinformation was one of the biggest challenges he had to face, noting that it can be difficult to be optimistic about the future.
“I think there are all sorts of challenges lurking, and some of them may get worse as we move forward with time,” Kote said.
However, he noted that there is a solution if the different groups can work together.
“No one should just be discouraged and abandon the battle or abandon the project,” he said.
“I think a lot of people have to contribute and I think it’s the work of politicians of all styles, of institutions, of the media, of academics. Different people need to come together and say it’s a danger. “
WATCH Yves Kote on the complex challenge of misinformation and foreign interference:
Disinformation and foreign interference are key election challenges, the commissioner said
Outgoing Commissioner for Elections in Canada Yves Kote talks about the key challenges facing Canada’s electoral system.
Misinformation against the anxiety of the electoral system
Kote said he was particularly concerned about misinformation attacks against the Canadian electoral system.
“When people try to convince others that the way the votes or ballots are counted doesn’t work,” Kote said.
“When they try to misinform people about where they can vote, how they can vote or where, they try to raise issues with the professionalism or competence of, for example, Elections Canada or our own office for reasons that are unfounded.” I find this very, very disturbing. “
Kote said he has negotiated agreements with companies such as Twitter, Google and Facebook that help streamline the process of obtaining information when his office has to investigate a complaint, but he said he has no agreements with other “foreign agencies” such as Tencent , a company that owns the popular Chinese application WeChat.
The departure of Côté at the end of this month comes amid these new technological challenges, which you probably could not have imagined 10 years ago, when headlines were dominated by the voter repression scandal during the 2011 elections, when voters in several districts received automated phone calls with recorded messages directing them to the wrong place to vote.
His successor, Caroline Simard, begins on August 15.
Foreign interference is “difficult to investigate”
In addition to the challenges posed by disinformation, Kote said Simar would have to fight the threat of foreign interference in the election.
“For us as a law enforcement agency, this presents all sorts of challenges, especially if these foreign countries do not have good working diplomatic relations with us,” Kote explained.
“It’s very difficult to investigate, it’s very difficult to get the evidence you might need to start a case, and then, of course, it’s very difficult to bring these people to the Canadian courts, assuming that you have managed to gather the evidence you need to do so. “
In a recent interview with CBC Radio’s The House, former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole revealed that the Canadian Security Service (CSIS) informed his party during the last election of WeChat’s attempts to influence the race in a series of false rides. information.
LISTEN | Erin O’Toole discusses interference in the 2021 elections:
CBC News: House 23:06 Erin O’Toole’s Conservative Council
Former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole begins a full-length, sitting interview with host Chris Hall to discuss the convoy, China and the group’s revolt that ended his leadership.
Kote said his office has ties to CSIS, the Canadian Security Service, the RCMP and various police forces.
“Of course, we’ve heard about the fact that there have been campaigns like this or claims that there have been similar campaigns, and that’s a topic that interests us a lot,” Kote said.
In addition to experiments that Canada Elections knows and can decipher, he said there are things happening under the radar that they don’t know about.
“There are some unknowns and some unknowns. So this is a very complicated thing that we have to play a role in.”
Protect voter privacy
Another challenge is protecting the privacy of voters.
Federal political parties are currently exempt from federal privacy laws. Kote said he had received several complaints about the misuse of political party voters’ personal information.
“Given the current framework, there was really nothing we could do because the act is so open and so generous or so not restrictive enough about what political parties are doing.
Kote pointed to new legislation in Quebec that would subject parties and candidates to confidentiality rules, something he hopes the federal government will see passed. He said he also supported the recommendation made by Chief Electoral Director Stefan Perrault to limit hate groups from forming recognized political parties.
Some voters have said in the past that they do not want to be included in the electoral list for fears that their information may be available to individuals or groups that promote hatred.
In the end, Kote believes his term was successful, increasing the independence of the Canadian Commissioner’s Election Office and receiving changes, such as the introduction of administrative fines as an alternative to prosecuting some violations of election law.
“We have a good team and we certainly have a commissioner, an incoming commissioner who is very competent and highly qualified to take over from me and move the office to higher and better places.”
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