Liberal leadership rules ripe for abuse
Our next PM could be chosen by 14 year-olds who aren't Canadian citizens or by bot farms in Russia, China or India.
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Published Jan 27, 2025 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
A select group of Canadians, and some non-Canadians, who signed up at the Liberal Party website will choose our next prime minister. At 5 p.m. on Monday, the Liberals cut off registration for the election of their next party leader and our next PM.
Now, it’s all up to whoever signed up.
This is utterly insane that in 2025 the leader of a G7 country will be picked via an online voting system run by a political party with no external oversight even as we face the spectre of foreign interference.
Sure, the Liberals claim they have practices in place to ensure the integrity of the vote. The party that lessened voter identification rules for federal elections now says they will have “strict identification verifications” for their leadership vote.
We have a real problem with how parties, all parties, choose their leaders and candidates in this country and it needs to change. We need a push to ensure that any party wishing to contest in a federal election follows the same rules as Elections Canada sets out for a general election.
Anyone voting must be a Canadian citizen, they must be over the age of 18 and they must cast their ballot in the district where they live.
Instead, we face the real possibility that our next PM will be chosen by 14-year-old non-citizens of Canada or perhaps by Conservative Party members who signed up to become Liberals for this race. Given that the voting system, yet to be announced, will be online or telephone-based and that we could also have bot farms in Russia, India or China choosing our next prime minister.
This is not a problem just of the Liberal Party but since they are the ones currently in power, the ones changing leaders and therefore our PM, we need to be concerned.
“Before any individual is able to vote, they will be asked to confirm their eligibility as a Registered Liberal, including that they are not a member of any other federal political party,” a spokesperson for the Liberal Party said in response to questions.
It’s concerning that the Liberals seem more concerned that you are not a member of the NDP or Conservatives than whether you are a Canadian citizen. The party moved to “tighten” their rules to say that only citizens and permanent residents are able to vote in party leadership races but they have no way to vet this and ensure this is the case.
The party spokesperson did say that they have “the ability to remove registrants from our lists, and will be removing fraudulent profiles well in advance of any leadership vote” and that leadership campaign teams have the ability to challenge registrations. Still, compared to a democratic vote following national legal standards, the winner of the Liberal leadership will have no democratic legitimacy or mandate.
The last time we switched prime ministers in such a fashion was Paul Martin in 2003. The last time we selected a PM in this way who was not already a sitting MP was John Turner in 1984. Both of those examples were well before the general public knew about the problems of foreign interference in our elections.
We need to change the rules, for all parties and not just the Liberals. A few years ago, this is an idea I would have resisted but in the age of widespread foreign interference it is vital.
At the federal and provincial levels, we need to change our systems.
While it looks like Mark Carney is the frontrunner to become Liberal leader and PM, the truth is we don’t know. A group of rowdy Conservatives from Western Canada could be rigging the system to implant their person, or the dictators in Beijing could be picking theirs.
Neither scenario is good for Canada, but both are sadly possible.
The rules on the the Liberal leadership rules are so loose that no one knows who is voting or what results will be. It's time for a change.
torontosun.com