Group to monitor federal election
International body’s findings could validate — or dismiss — criticisms of the Fair Elections Act
Canadians won’t be the only ones watching October’s election. An international body that specializes in monitoring elections plans to send a team to watch the federal campaign for the first time since 2006.
The Organization for Security and Economic Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is drawing up the plan in direct response to concerns about recent changes to Canada’s election law under the Conservative government. Canada is a member of the OSCE.
With an election call expected as early as this weekend, the OSCE election observer mission’s findings could validate — or dismiss — criticisms from opposition parties, some citizens’ groups and other analysts of the legislation the government has dubbed the Fair Elections Act. Critics believe its provisions could affect Canada’s standing as a champion of free and fair elections.
Thomas Rymer, a spokesman for the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, said details of the mission are being ironed out. Several other OSCE member states, including Ukraine and Belarus, also have elections in October.
The last OSCE team to monitor a Canadian election, in January 2006, was composed of 10 officials from eight countries. Rymer said that is the typical size for a country like Canada, where the focus is less on what is happening at individual polling stations and more on the overall process.
“They tend to be different experts related to different aspects of the process,” he said. “So it’s really looking at the electoral process and the electoral system and legal framework, as opposed to any kind of observation out in the field.”
The plan to send an election assessment team stems from a fact-finding mission in May in which OSCE officials met with political parties, government officials and civil society groups to determine whether they perceived a need to monitor the October election.
They recommended in June that the OSCE monitor the Oct. 19 federal election based on widespread concerns they heard about the changes implemented under the Fair Elections Act.
Those concerns include: Whether the law will prevent large numbers of voters from casting ballots; whether campaign finance rules will benefit some parties and not others; the process for complaints and appeals; and whether the law will negatively affect turnout among aboriginals and other groups.
“Because there were questions and concerns from some corners over the nature of the changes that had been made, and a little bit of wonder of what those changes would actually mean in practice, this then calls for some type of observation to look at exactly this question,” Rymer said.
OSCE election assessment teams generally produce reports about eight weeks after an election, he said. No election is perfect, he added, and the main question for the team would be whether the recent changes bring Canada’s electoral system closer to international standards, or push it further away.
The Conservative government did not respond to questions about the planned OSCE mission, except to defend the Fair Elections Act as important for protecting Canada’s electoral system.
Liberal party national director Jeremy Broadhurst, who met with the first OSCE fact-finding mission in May, welcomed the prospect of an election-monitoring mission.
“This was rammed through by the Tories without anybody’s input,” Broadhurst said of the Fair Elections Act. “I think we should definitely be welcoming any insight that we get from someone who doesn’t have a horse in this race. This would be a truly impartial assessment.”
Canada is an original member of the OSCE, which focuses on security, human rights and democratic governance. Canadians have also participated in numerous OSCE election observer missions in other countries, most recently in Ukraine.
“I don’t think anybody should be scared or threatened,” Broadhurst said. “The OSCE does this all over the world. They do it in mature democracies as well as emerging democracies. Canada is a full member of that organization and we shouldn’t be worried about extra scrutiny.”
The OSCE team would almost certainly focus on whether improvements are needed to Canada’s electoral system, as opposed to deciding whether the election produces a legitimate winner on Oct. 19. Canada will be expected to respond to the team’s findings, but is not obligated to adopt its recommendations.
NDP MP Peggy Nash said the fact the OSCE plans to send a team should make people realize the world is watching.
“People around the world have looked to us as a model of good ethical governance,” she said. “And if they see us walking backwards on election transparency, then I think that really is a wakeup call.”