Site MenuAdvisory Committee of Political Parties – Meeting Summary – April 12, 2018
2. Introductory Remarks and Round Table
Stéphane Perrault, Acting Chief Electoral Officer (A/CEO), welcomed members of the Advisory Committee of Political Parties (ACPP) to the April 2018 meeting and thanked them for their participation in the previous day's workshop on elector services for the 2019 general election (GE).
Mr. Perrault discussed some of the agency's planning assumptions, expectations and timelines with regard to forthcoming legislation and the appointment of a new Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), each of which were anticipated in the following weeks.
Mr. Perrault updated the Committee on EC's Electoral Services Modernization projects, and reminded members of the two strategic priorities EC has been pursuing since the last GE: improving electoral services through a range of initiatives; and replacing and improving key infrastructure assets that are required for the delivery of elections, such as data centres, IT networks, telecommunications services and the pay system for poll workers.
Mr. Perrault also updated the Committee on other ongoing projects, such as voting on campus, the Policy on Selecting Suitable Polling Places, ballot production modernization, the Elector Services in Remote Indigenous Communities (ESRIC) project, and the Political Entities Service Centre (PESC). He then introduced the members to EC's Inspire Democracy initiative, which is a way for the agency to enhance its stakeholder engagement activities through a series of workshops and information kiosks held during stakeholder events and conferences.
Mr. Perrault indicated that cybersecurity and the broader issue of disinformation were significant challenges for the agency when he appeared before the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs in February 2018. The Communications Security Establishment had estimated that multiple groups will very likely deploy cyber-capabilities in an attempt to influence the democratic process during the 2019 federal election. In response, EC is taking a number of steps to strengthen its security posture. For example, the security design of EC's IT network has been improved and the new data-hosting service will offer a range of additional protections. The agency is also commissioning an independent audit of its IT security controls, which should be completed this spring.
With respect to the broader issue of disinformation, EC's integrity branch is working with the Commissioner of Canada Elections to keep abreast of developments. EC's main role is ensuring that Canadians have the correct information on where, when and ways to register and vote. To that end, as part of the 2019 Voter Information Campaign, the agency will ensure that its advertising is clearly branded and will publish a repository of all of its communications products and messages on our website. This will allow anyone who may be in doubt about whether a message is from EC to verify the message.
Mr. Perrault also mentioned that there have been references to the fact that political parties are not subject to privacy laws at the federal level, which is an issue of concern raised by the Privacy Commissioner. The former CEO also made recommendations to Parliament on this subject in his 2013 and 2016 reports following elections. It was unclear at that point whether the government would include privacy protection measures as part of its legislative package. In any event, parties will likely have to take steps to reassure Canadians regarding the use and safeguarding of their personal information.