Canada has introduced a bill proposing a ban on digital asset donations to political parties, as part of a raft of measures aimed at strengthening and protecting the country’s elections from “evolving threats” and foreign interference.
On March 26, the Canadian government introduced the “Strong and Free Elections Act,” which proposed a host of targeted, priority updates to the Canada Elections Act (CEA), which sets the rules around how elections are run and overseen in the country.
The CEA already contains mandates related to political financing, strict spending limits, and robust reporting requirements. However, the Strong and Free Elections Act, proposed by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s ruling Liberal Party, would strengthen some existing provisions while adding new protections to adapt to emerging challenges.
Among the new proposals is a mandate that “political parties and third parties (for political activities) will no longer be allowed to accept donations in forms that are difficult to track, like crypto currency, money orders, and pre-paid cards.”
The bill’s sponsor, Steven MacKinnon, Government House Leader and Minister of Transport, said in a statement on X last Thursday that the bill represented “concrete steps to better protect our democracy” and that the government was acting “to ensure our elections remain free, fair and secure at all times.”
According to a government press release, the bill builds on recommendations from the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions (PIFI), launched in January of last year to address concerns around foreign interference in Canadian elections.
Along with the ban on digital asset donations, the bill proposed a host of other measures to protect elections and candidates, such as mitigating unduly long ballots, enhanced physical security, stronger enforcement of the CEA, and a prohibition on digital deepfakes of electoral actors.
In terms of the latter, the government said: “With the exception of parody and satirical content, the existing offence against impersonating certain electoral actors (e.g., the CEO, a candidate) with the intent to mislead voters will be expanded to ensure that it applies to realistic deepfakes.”
In addition, to further counter election disinformation, it will be illegal to “knowingly spread false or misleading information” about election activities or the voting process, with the caveat that “good faith views or opinions believed to be true, and parody or satire, will not apply.”
The proposed updates to Canada’s election law comes just a week after the United Kingdom government announced an emergency ban on digital asset donations to political parties, as part of a broader overhaul of the country’s political finance system—one also aimed at preventing foreign interference in domestic politics.
U.K. Communities Secretary Steve Reed said at the time that the moratorium on crypto donation would “remain in place until the Electoral Commission and this Parliament are satisfied there is sufficient regulation in place to ensure full confidence and transparency in donations being made in this way subject to parliamentary approval.”
The global crackdown on digital asset donations has been a long time coming, with concerns around foreign interference in elections steadily increasing over the past decade.
In 2022, a declassified U.S. intelligence assessment estimated that Russia alone had spent over $300 million since 2014 to influence politicians across 24 countries, with more likely going undetected.
If Canada’s proposed ban becomes law and the U.K.’s becomes permanent, they will join a number of other countries and jurisdictions that already have prohibitions on digital asset donations, including Ireland, Brazil, and several U.S. states—such as Washington, which capped digital currency donations at $100.
Watch: Breaking down solutions to blockchain regulation hurdles
Source: https://coingeek.com/canada-proposes-curbs-on-crypto-donations-to-parties/
