OTTAWA — Canada’s chief electoral officer is calling for changes to the country’s election law to combat foreign interference in elections and the spread of misinformation.
Stéphane Perrault has suggested creating a new offence of making false statements to undermine an election — for example, claiming that the results have been manipulated.
The recommendation is one of many made by Perrault in a report for MPs on issues arising from the last two general elections in Canada in 2019 and 2021.
The report released Tuesday said the changes are needed to “protect against inaccurate information that is intended to disrupt the conduct of an election or undermine its legitimacy.”
The new offence in the Canada Elections Act would stop people or bodies from knowingly making false statements about the voting process to disrupt an election or undermine its legitimacy.
At a news conference, Perrault said the law would be applied narrowly to statements designed to undermine trust in the election or its result and would not hinder free speech by voters.
Currently, it is not illegal to deliberately mislead someone about how, where and when to vote.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association warned against too broad an application of a law outlawing statements during an election.
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