Bill to regulate robocalls faces hurdles

This week, NDP MP Craig Scott will introduce a private member’s bill to regulate political calls — something the government promised to have presented by last month.

On March 12, at the height of the media furor over fraudulent and deceptive election calls, the NDP moved a motion calling on the government to table legislation to curb dirty political calls by requiring voter contact firms and their clients to register with Elections Canada.

Under public pressure from revelations about calls that seemed to target opposition supporters during the 2011 election, Conservative MPs voted for the motion, but the six-month deadline passed last month, and the government has yet to put forward legislation.

NDP MP Pat Martin put a bill tackling political calls on the notice paper, but withdrew it and handed it to Scott, the Osgoode Hall law professor who won Jack Layton’s former Toronto Danforth seat in a March byelection.

Martin has repeatedly apologized for making false allegations about RackNine, the Alberta robocall company whose service was used to send a deceptive robocall in Guelph on election day.

Scott, the party’s critic for democratic reform, can’t reveal the details before tabling the bill, but says it will provide a mechanism for tracking calls that have until now have been unregulated.

“It will address the need for every call to be recorded and archived and mandatorily made available to the chief electoral officer in one way or another,” he said.

Because it’s a private member’s bill, there is no guarantee that it will ever even be debated. It also means it cannot propose spending money, so it doesn’t include an electronic registry, which is what he’d like to see.

“To be properly done, it would need to be something the government would mandate, which would cost money,” he said.

On Sept 20, Scott asked Tim Uppal, minister of state for democratic reform, when it would comply with the motion and table legislation.

“The deadline has arrived,” he said. “When will the government take action?”

“A comprehensive proposal will be put forward shortly,” said Uppal.

Spokeswoman Kate Davis would not be more specific.

“A comprehensive proposal will be put forward in due course,” she said in an email. “I’m not going to speculate on timing.”

Scott says he is not encouraged by the vague response.

“That’s not the language to say ‘A bill is in the works. We’re conscious that six months ago we promised this. It’s much more hesitant than that.’”

In a speech last month, Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand said he plans to propose legislative changes to cope with robocalls in March, changes that are necessary to maintain public trust in the electoral system.

“I feel strongly that an electoral system and an electoral law that do not reflect the concerns and values of a modern Canadian electorate will only in the long-term help fuel disillusionment and disengagement from political process,” he said.

Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Stephen Maher