The Peace Tower is seen through the iron gates of Parliament Hill in Ottawa on March 19, 2015.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
A Senate committee is urging the Liberal government to toughen up Canada's election law to better protect the voting process from foreign influence – and money.
There have been growing concerns about foreign influence in the electoral process, especially after the French and U.S. elections and the investigation into alleged Russian interference to help ensure the victory of U.S. President Donald Trump.
A new report from the Senate legal committee is calling for clearer language barring foreign entities from inducing Canadians to vote in a particular way, as well as stronger criminal penalties for doing so.
The committee is also calling for a major update to the rules surrounding election advertising by third parties, which do not currently apply to the Internet or making telephone calls to potential voters.
It also wants to impose random campaign audits and remove the six-month time limit on when those third parties have to report contributions, to further protect against foreign donations helping to fund election activities.
Yves Cote, the commissioner of Canada elections, told the Senate committee in April that concerns about foreign money and third-party influence are serious enough that they merit the attention of Parliament.