Liberals introduce legislation amending Elections Act as part of agreement with NDP

The Liberals introduced legislation Tuesday aimed at expanding voting access and targeting electoral interference and the spread of disinformation.

Bill C-65 introduces a suite of amendments to the Canada Elections Act as part of the Liberals'political pact with the NDP. But it delays two key aspects of that agreement: spreading the official election day over three days and allowing voters to vote at any polling station in their riding.

Speaking to reporters after the bill was tabled, Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc and NDP democratic reform critic Daniel Blaikie said Elections Canada raised concerns about implementing those two reforms before the next election.

If passed, C-65 would instead aim to implement those changes by 2029, while asking Canada's chief electoral officer to report back to Parliament on progress towardthose changes in the meantime.

LeBlanc said it's "certainly our hope" that those changes could be made sooner.

"The principal objective was to improve access to ballots, improve the ability of Canadians to participate in the electoral system," he said. "Elections Canada identified some reasonable concerns."

LeBlanc said allowing voters to cast their ballot at any polling station in their riding would require Elections Canada to adopt new technology so that a person would be removed from the voter list across the district once their ballot is cast.

For an expanded, three-day voting period, LeBlanc said Elections Canada's concerns were more "operational" because it would have to ensure that buildings typically used as polling stations such as schools and religious centres would be available for more than one day.

Blaikie said Elections Canada's concerns were understandable.

"We wanted to be sensitive to those concerns. We wanted to make progress but do it in a way that's realizable," he said.

The legislation does include proposals that, if passed, could be implemented in time for the next election. Those proposals include the addition of two extra days of advance voting and making the "Vote on Campus" program for post-secondary students permanent.

Canadians who wish to vote by mail would also be able to register for a mail-in-ballot online and return their ballot to their polling station in person if they missed the mailing deadline. The bill also contains provisions to allow for more flexibility for voting in long-term care facilities.

The bill also contains a suite of measures the government says are meant to safeguard election integrity. Those measures include prohibiting political donations made through money orders, prepaid gift cards and cryptocurrencies. The government says it also would expand third party contribution rules to target donations being made by foreign entities.

Current laws about impersonating a candidate would also be expanded to cover artificial intelligence or "deep fakes."

The bill also would make it an offence to "make false statements" about the electoral process, such as misleading statements aboutwho is allowed to vote and how to register to vote.

Federal law requires that the next election be held no later than October 2025.

LeBlanc said the intention is for parliamentarians to "ensure that this legislation can be in place as quickly as possible."