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OTTAWA – Several federal political parties are expressing doubts about the possibility of new regulations to prevent foreign meddlers from corrupting their candidate nomination processes.

Elections Canada has suggested possible changes to protect nominations, including banning non-citizens from helping to select candidates, requiring parties to publish competition rules and specifically prohibiting conduct such as voting more than once.

However, representatives of the Bloc Québécois, the Green Party and the NDP have told a federal commission of inquiry into foreign interference that such changes could be unwelcome, difficult to implement or counterproductive.

The Canada Elections Act currently provides for limited regulation of federal nomination races and contestants.

For example, only contestants who receive $1,000 in contributions or incur $1,000 in expenses are required to file a financial return. In addition, the act does not include specific obligations relating to candidacy, voting, counting or reporting of results other than who is the successful nominee.

A report released in June by the Senate National Security and Intelligence Committee expressed concern about how easily foreign actors can exploit loopholes and vulnerabilities to support preferred candidates.

Lucy Watson, the NDP’s national director, told the inquiry Thursday that she had concerns about how new legislation would interact with the party’s internal decisions.

“We are very proud of the fact that our members play such a significant role in shaping the party’s internal policies and procedures and infrastructure, and we would not want to see that lost,” he said.

“There are guidelines, there are best practices that we would welcome, but if we were talking about legal requirements and legislation, that is something I would have to take away and think about further, and have discussions with people who are an integral part of governing the party.”

In an August interview with the investigative commission, Bloc Québécois executive director Mathieu Desquilbet said the party would oppose any external body that monitors the rules of nomination and leadership contests.

A summary submitted Thursday says Desquilbet expressed doubts about the propriety of requiring nomination candidates to file a full financial report with Elections Canada, saying the agency’s current regulatory framework and the Bloc’s internal rules on the matter are sufficient.

Green Party representatives, Jon Irwin and Robin Marty, told the inquiry in an interview in August that it would not be realistic for an outside body, such as Elections Canada, to administer nomination or leadership contests as the resources required would be greater than the federal agency’s ability.

A summary of the interview says that Irwin and Marty “also did not believe that an outside body such as the Office of the Election Commissioner of Canada could effectively investigate violations.”

“The types of complaints raised during nomination contests can be highly personal, politically motivated, and could overwhelm an outside body.”

Marty, the party’s national campaign director, told the inquiry on Thursday that increased reporting requirements would also place an administrative burden on riding volunteers and workers.

In addition, he said disclosing the total vote of a nomination contest could help foreign thinkers by highlighting the exact number of votes needed for a candidate to be selected.

Irwin, the Greens’ interim executive director, said the ideal tactic for a foreign country would be to work to get someone in a “position of power” within a political party in Canada.

He said “the bad guys are always one step ahead” when it comes to meddling in Canada’s political process.

In May, David Vigneault, then director of Canada’s Security Intelligence Service, said it was clear from the design of the popular social media app TikTok that data collected from its users was available to the Chinese government.

A December 2022 CSIS memo presented at the inquiry said Thursday that TikTok “has the potential to be exploited” by Beijing to “boost its influence and power abroad, including in Canada.”

When asked about the app, Marty told the inquiry that the Greens would benefit from more “direction and guidance,” given the party’s lack of resources to tackle such things.

Representatives of the Liberal and Conservative parties are expected to appear at the inquiry on Friday, while chief electoral officer Stéphane Perrault is due to testify later.

After her party’s representatives appeared on Thursday, Green Leader Elizabeth May told reporters that it was important for the leaders of all parties to work together to come up with acceptable rules.

This report was first published by The Canadian Press on September 19, 2024.