Harper Pledges to Fix Election Rules as Recommended by Chief Electoral Officer

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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The Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, pledged in front of media on Thursday to fix the election rules in time for the next elections as the Chief Electoral Officer, Marc Mayrand, recently warned that there will be more misleading robocalls in the next election in case the government does not acts in time.

Only a day after the recommendation of a complete overhaul of the Elections Act was initially presented in the House to account for new technologies, Mayrand mentioned on Thursday that it is “becoming urgent” for the government to update the Elections Act. He elaborated that “I’m afraid that what happened in the last election could re-occur.” Additionally, he further elucidated that “and again the same obstacles that exist right now to the investigation will remain in place. In Guelph, according to public information, 7,000 calls were placed within 15 minutes at a cost of about $160. It’s very cheap to breach the legislation, undermine public confidence and, honestly, to try to deter or prevent people to cast their ballots.”

The report of Mayrand tabled on Wednesday, recommends installing new rules for political parties in place, increasing penalties and giving Elections Canada investigators new powers to look into complaints of wrongdoing. Harper addressed the issue during a question period on Thursday morning, while boldly promising a new legislation, he stated that “these recommendations will be strongly taken into account as the government moves forward in the not-too-distant future with comprehensive reform.“