MPs scrutinized a representative from a group of long ballot protesters for his role in helping to flood some federal ridings with dozens of candidates in recent years.
Tomas Szuchewycz — an organizer with a group of electoral reform advocates known as the Longest Ballot Committee — defended the group’s actions during what was an occasionally tense meeting of the House procedures committee on Tuesday.
“The Longest Ballot Committee advocates that you MPs recuse yourself from writing the rules of your own elections,” Szuchewycz told the committee, arguing that an independent and non-partisan body should be established to oversee election rules.
In an effort to draw attention to their argument, the Longest Ballot Committee has organized dozens of Independent candidates to run in a number of ridings in elections dating back to 2021.
Most recently, just over 90 candidates ran in Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s Ontario riding of Carleton during the election this past spring. The group also managed to double the number of candidates in the August byelection in Alberta’s Battle River-Crowfoot, where Poilievre regained a seat after losing his Ottawa-area riding in April.
As it stands, candidates need 100 signatures from electors within a riding to register to run in that district. The Longest Ballot Committee has had multiple voters sign multiple candidates’ nomination forms.
Conservative MP Michael Cooper questioned the protesters’ tactics, suggesting they had electors signing nomination forms where the candidate’s name was left blank — an assertion Szuchewycz disputed.
“We recruit candidates, we get all their names and then we collect signatures for them. We’re not just collecting signatures for people who said they don’t want to run,” Szuchewycz said.
“I want to caution you, sir, that you’re testifying before a parliamentary committee and you have an obligation to answer my questions fully and truthfully,” Cooper said, before suggesting Szuchewycz could be held in contempt of Parliament.
The MP referenced a social media post he said showed a nomination form with signatures and a blank field where the candidate’s name should appear.
Szuchewycz responded by saying that the image Cooper was referencing had been “AI doctored.”
Under further questioning from Cooper, Szuchewycz said his team had at some point attempted to submit forms where the name field had said “any and all candidates.” When asked later during the committee if he felt that was a violation of election rules, Szuchewycz said those forms were ultimately rejected by local election workers.
Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault told the committee last week that the Longest Ballot Committee had in the past attempted to submit forms “without an identified candidate” — but said he was unaware of “any evidence” to suggest that the committee had submitted forms that were altered after the signature were collected.
Following his testimony Tuesday, Szuchewycz approached Cooper and said he was showing the MP the original image of the candidate form, with a name filled in.
CBC News reached out to Cooper’s office for comment regarding the suggestion that the photos the MP referred to had been altered. A Conservative Party spokesperson replied, saying it “wasn’t a credible defence,” given that Szuchewycz later admitted that the group had written in “all candidates” on some forms.
Elections Canada has had to adapt the election rules to accommodate the flood of candidates running as result of the Longest Ballot Committee’s efforts. In a number of elections, nearly metre-long ballots were printed, confounding voters and causing delays in the vote count. The election agency opted for a write-in ballot for Poilievre’s August byelection.
Bloc Québécois MP Christine Normandin questioned Szuchewycz on whether his group’s tactics were effective in advocating for the change he is calling for.
“Folks are aware of the existence of the Longest Ballot Committee. But in your opinion, do they ultimately understand the message you are championing when it comes to electoral reform?” Normandin asked in French.
“I think people do understand the message — it’s fairly straightforward,” Szuchewycz said.
Other MPs questioned the group’s stated goal of having an independent body oversee election rules, suggesting that such an organization wouldn’t be accountable to the voting public.
Liberal MP Chris Bittle, the committee chair, asked Szuchewycz who he envisioned would be involved in such a committee.
“I’m not a policy expert. It’s very obvious to everyone that it’s an inappropriate conflict of interest for MPs to be in charge of [electoral rules]. I’m extremely confident that if you had an in-depth discussion about it, you could come up with something very reasonable,” Szuchewycz responded.
“It’s very bizarre to me that you’re engaging in this protest without a very basic answer to the first question that would come up in solving what you’re seeking to protest,” Bittle said.
Lori Turnbull, a political science professor at Dalhousie University who spoke to the committee after Szuchewycz, said she can “understand the argument” the Longest Ballot Committee is putting forward. But she said it would be difficult to put into practice.
“If we start talking about what do you use as opposed to the House of Commons, who else should make this decision — it’s much easier to think about that in theory than it is to think about that in practice,” Turnbull told the committee.
During his summer byelection campaign, Poilievre called for the government to put forward legislation that would limit what he called the “longest ballot scam.”
The head of Elections Canada told the same committee last week that he’s open to changes to the electoral rules that would curb long ballot protests.
Perrault said that requiring each candidate to hand in 100 unique signatures could put a damper on the protesters’ efforts, as they typically have electors sign multiple nomination forms.
“A person who endorses the nomination of a candidate [should] endorse the nomination of that particular candidate and not just any candidate,” Perrault said.
Perrault also suggested there could be a fine for voters who sign multiple nomination forms — but he cautioned against penalties for candidates in case a “good faith” candidate unwittingly gathers a double signature.
Each candidate is also required to have an official agent, someone who acts as a candidate’s representative and handles campaign finances. In past elections, Szuchewycz has acted as the official agent for all the long ballot candidates.
When asked last week, Perrault said he was open to the idea of requiring an official agent to act for only one candidate in a riding.
Turnbull told the committee Tuesday that she had one concern about potential rule changes. “For a truly Independent candidate, who is serious, who wants to run to be the representative of the riding … I don’t want that person to pay an extra price because of the Longest Ballot Committee,” she said.
There could be a reasonable situation where an elector would sign more than one nomination sheet, Turnbull said.
“Say if I know two people who are running for office in the same riding and I sign both their forms … because I believe in the viability of the candidacy of these two people. I don’t think in that case democracy is suffering.”
