Election Law: How Section 91 Ruling Will Affect The Next Election

PUBLISHED: 22/01/2021 Honesty in politics. It’s something voters want and look for. Considering the vitriol and abuse in the last few elections, it would be refreshing to have more. Last year, the federal government introduced Section 91 of the Canada Elections Act. Those against the law feel it brings a “chill” to political discourse. On the other side of the coin, those in support see it as taking on “fake news”. The law has been struck down in court, but we do not know whether it will be appealed. ———————————— GUESTS: Christine Van Geyn - Director of Litigation at Canadian Constitution Foundation -https://theccf.ca/staff/ Duff Conacher - Co-Founder at Democracy Watch -https://democracywatch.ca/biographies/ Nelson Wiseman - Professor Political Science at University of Toronto https://policyoptions.irpp.org/authors/nelson-wiseman/ Réal Lavergne - President at Fair Vote Canada -https://www.fairvote.ca/author/real-lavergne/ ———————————— REFERENCES: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/elections-misinformation-court-free-speech-1.5948463 https://www.lawtimesnews.com/practice-areas/litigation/superior-court-rules-federal-election-misinformation-law-unconstitutional/338355 https://www.lawtimesnews.com/practice-areas/litigation/court-hears-constitutional-challenge-to-election-law-prohibiting-certain-false-statements/333913 https://www.dal.ca/news/2019/12/16/how-canada-s-new-election-law-has-silenced-political-debate.html https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/pen-canada-successfully-intervenes-in-sec-91-challenge-to-canada-elections-act-845087250.html https://daily.jstor.org/to-predict-the-role-of-fake-news-in-2020-look-to-canada/ https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/elections-canada-social-media-monitoring-findings-1.5444268 https://www.cigionline.org/articles/fake-news-threatens-canadas-federal-election https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/08/07/news/canadians-media-consumption-habits-lead-misinformation-study-finds https://cjf-fjc.ca/sites/default/files/WhitePaper-The%20Stakes%20Are%20High.pdf https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/national-perspectives/michael-karanicolas-canadas-fake-news-laws-face-a-charter-challenge-thats-a-good-thing-363549/ https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/groups-ready-campaign-to-help-young-voters-identify-fake-news-in-election https://natoassociation.ca/should-canada-adopt-an-anti-fake-news-law/ https://globalnews.ca/news/5907430/canada-election-combating-disinformation/ https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/as-misinformation-spreads-here-s-how-canadian-voters-can-stay-vigilant-1.1319397 https://magazine.utoronto.ca/research-ideas/culture-society/how-will-we-fix-fake-news/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/09/09/ahead-elections-canadians-must-be-vigilant-about-misinformation-online/ https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/safe-to-use-news-researchers-trying-to-track-how-info-moves-during-election-campaign-1.4541315 https://canoe.com/news/national/election-has-been-mostly-free-of-misinformation-research-shows https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/election-law-prohibiting-false-statements-about-candidates-struck-down-by-ontario-court https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/elections-canada-section-91-2019-election-1.5345250 https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/election-2019/marni-soupcoff-voters-dont-need-governments-censoring-their-opinions