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.

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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/

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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