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As members will know, we have been following several election-related issues and trends as local election administration is one of the key statutory responsibilities of our clerk members. We have been active in engaging governments at both the federal and provincial level in recent months, about the potential harmful impacts of foreign interference and misinformation on local elections.
This engagement has included a submission to a federal consultation on foreign interference and identifying interference and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) as trends and accelerators of mis and disinformation in our Modernizing the Municipal Elections Act for the 21st Century submission that includes recommendations for improving the legislative framework of local elections. We will continue to monitor developments in these areas and provide updates including a review of the final report of the Commission on Foreign Interference that is expected to be released in December.
In the meantime, we are pleased to see a new report on Foreign Interference and Disinformation from the Democratic Engagement Exchange at Toronto Metropolitan University — an item that came out of a workshop sponsored by the Privy Council Office. The report contains recommendations for the federal, provincial, and municipal governments, civil society, and industry to counter threats. The report’s key takeaways include:
- Creating a national strategy that defines roles for all orders of government and creates a body to collect expertise, share information, and support collaboration across sectors.
- Engaging political parties and others to raise public awareness and assist in countering threats.
- Creating a centralized platform with social media and technology companies as key partners to report irregularities.
- Developing cross-sectoral partnerships for cybersecurity, resource enhancement, digital literacy, and education to support capacity in smaller jurisdictions and accessing federal support.
We continue to advocate for priority changes to the municipal elections framework ahead of the 2026 municipal and school board elections with the aim of a comprehensive review and rewrite of the electoral framework before 2030. This will help ensure that local elections maintain public trust, improve safeguards, and continue to be fair, accountable, transparent, accessible, and reliable forms of local democracy.