AMCTO 2017 Conference: Democracy in the Digital Age: Balancing Security, Access and Privacy

Remarks for the Honourable Karina Gould, Minister of Democratic Institutions.

Toronto, October 12, 2017.

Check against delivery. This speech has been translated in accordance with the Government of Canada’s official languages policy and edited for posting and distribution in accordance with its communications policy.

Good Afternoon. I’m honoured to have the opportunity to gather here on the traditional territory of a people who are among this land’s original caretakers -- the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation.

Andrea -- Thank you for the kind introduction. It’s nice to see a familiar face from home.

I am encouraged to know so many of our province’s municipal officials have chosen to focus here on cyber security as you prepare for the 2018 municipal elections.

This underscores the importance our society attaches to Canada’s democratic traditions.

As Minister of Democratic Institutions, I want to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to play a full and direct role in our democracy. This is important as we continue to build a country where all Canadians can reach their full potential.

That can’t happen if Canadians don’t have faith in the integrity of our electoral processes.

And before I continue, I want to stress that I view everyone who works in government – whether elected or civil servant – as being in the same boat regardless of which level of government we represent.

We tend to view ourselves as being wedded to our jurisdictional responsibilities -- and that’s natural. But the public doesn’t always view it that way.

Constituents regularly approach me about municipal issues, like garbage collection and other vital local services like the public library. My counterparts in provincial politics tell me the same thing – that people come to them to help resolve issues under federal, provincial or municipal jurisdiction.

So we are all in this together. We know that for Canadians to have trust in their government, we must work hard at all levels to ensure, as we respond to challenges, that trust is not just earned but renewed.

So I take the cyber-threat very seriously. That’s why I asked the Communications Security Establishment earlier this year to assess the vulnerability of our democracy to cyber threats.

These threats emanate from a range of sources – from foreign governments intent on influencing our electoral processes, to so-called hacktivists motivated by ideology. We also have to consider terrorists, profit-driven cyber-criminals, and even thrill-seekers with a variety of nefarious motives.

But I want to frame this discussion by focusing on the most direct and personal connection Canadians have to our democracy – our right to vote.

Democracy has a very personal meaning for me. It is a profound experience to ask people for their support. To look someone in the eye and ask for their trust to represent them. This is the essence of democracy.

Everyone in this room likely has a story about how they participate in our democracy.

Some volunteer to knock on doors for candidates and attend rallies. Others exercise their civic engagement by contacting an elected official, signing a petition, or talking about a public policy issue with a friend online or at a coffee shop.

Or it could mean volunteering for an organization that makes your community a better place to live.

Democracy starts, however, with that simple but powerful act of casting a ballot on Election Day.

It’s a ritual and rite of passage in this country. I am sure many of you can remember going with your parents to a polling station. Perhaps you have brought your own children with you into the booth to cast a ballot.

In bitter swirling snowstorms and sweltering summer heat, generations of Canadians have followed the same tradition.

In many ways, Election Day is one of the last truly public civic rituals Canadians collectively enjoy. It’s a day where we are united.

We join the same lines. We follow the same rules. We exercise the same freedoms.

Over time, the greatest change we have faced is not posed by technology, but by the barriers we have created or allowed to form between Canadians and voting.

Generations before us have done difficult, necessary work to broaden the franchise -- to extend the right to vote to Canadians previously excluded.

As Minister of Democratic Institutions, I am continuing that important work today.

The government, for instance, has introduced Bill C-33 to make our electoral system more fair, accessible, and democratic. If passed, this bill will increase voter participation by breaking down barriers to voting while enhancing the efficiency and integrity of Canada’s elections. For example, the bill proposes to expand the Chief Electoral Officer’s mandate to undertake broad public education campaigns. It also extends the right to vote to over 1 million Canadians living abroad. And it reinstates the process of “vouching” so that a voter can take an oath and “vouch” for another eligible Canadian without proper ID at the polls.

I could mention other important initiatives. But my point is that when it comes to democracy, we can always do more to improve, strengthen and protect it.

And I think the digital age offers Canadians unique opportunities.  It drives our desire for information. We can share information online in the blink of an eye.

Today’s technology offers Canadians so many opportunities to engage and learn. And it has conditioned people to seek out these opportunities. It’s a very modest example, perhaps, of what Marshall McLuhan meant when he said we form our tools -- and then they form us.

In today’s digital world, we can use those tools to unite Canadians in a democratic debate. But in the wrong hands, they can also be used to divide us – and harm our democracy.

We all know that there are those in this world who would seek to undermine or damage Canadian democracy. I can tell you that the Government of Canada takes this seriously and is determined to do all we can to prevent that from happening.

Providing safety and security for Canadians is one of the Government’s top priorities. And that work must extend to protecting Canada’s democratic infrastructure.

Imagine if someone hacked a major political party or an online voting tool in a municipal election. The damage could be severe. It could lead Canadians to question the integrity of our elections. And the foundation of democracy is having trust in the process and the outcome.

So we owe it to Canadians to be proactive. That’s why I asked the Communications Security Establishment earlier this year to analyze and make public an assessment of the current risk of cyber threats and possible hacking of Canada’s democratic process.

This report, released in June, was the first of its kind in the world to be made public.

CSE concluded that while there are no indications that nation-states have used cyber capabilities to target Canada, there are some worrisome trends.

At the time of the report, hackers had targeted 13 per cent of countries holding national elections in 2017.

We know this is a trend on the rise around the world from documented incidents – in the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany – to name the most high profile. And we know that Canada is not immune.

CSE concluded that it is “highly probable” that the cyber threat activity will grow in quantity and sophistication in Canada.

That’s due in part to the fact that – and I’m quoting here -- “many effective cyber capabilities are publicly available, cheap and easy to use.”

So far no one has launched a major cyber attack during a Canadian federal election. CSE cited media reports that noted low-sophistication cyber incidents in the 2015 federal election.

And CSE added that there’s “no indication” any of the thousands of elections at the provincial, territorial and municipal level have been targeted over the past five years.

I suspect you are all anticipating a “however” coming right now. And you’d be correct.

CSE said it anticipates that hackers will use more sophisticated techniques in the 2019 federal election. While there has been no evidence nation-states were involved in cyber-activity in the last federal vote, the report said that could change in 2019. But let’s think about how much the world has changed, and can continue to change, in just five years. In the 2015 federal election, Facebook ads were a relatively new thing. And I can say I was the first generation to use Facebook only ten years ago. We don’t know for sure what the next tool is, and how it may be coopted during an election.

CSE also said that in future municipal and provincial elections, politicians and parties are likely to come under increasing threat from nation-states and hacktivists – especially when natural resources – and I would argue development projects – are a part of the political debate.

This may depend on whether Canada’s foreign adversaries view Canada’s foreign and domestic policies as threatening to their interests. Hostile governments might also target positions taken by federal candidates of various parties, according to the agency.

At the federal level we are acting.

We have created, for example, the Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre, which provides a method for municipal, provincial, and territorial governments – as well as private businesses – to report cyber security incidents. This allows for critical information sharing across the country, which ultimately helps all of us be better prepared. If you haven’t already, I encourage you have a look at the CCIRC’s website and see what tools and information are available.

Now let me move onto a hot topic that I get asked about all the time: online voting.

At the federal level, we will not be pursuing online voting. This decision was made after a special parliamentary committee studied the issue extensively and concluded that online voting was not in Canada’s best interest. While I do not want to discourage the good work that you’re doing, I want to raise two points as to why the Government of Canada is not pursuing online voting to inform your own thinking.

The first is the integrity of the secret ballot. We often take it for granted that when we cast a ballot on Election Day, we know that our vote is secret and secure. We walk into the polling station, go behind a screen, and the decision of who we vote for is ours and ours alone. When we emerge from the polling booth, ballot in hand, we are confident that when we cast our vote, its secrecy is intact.

When I was a candidate, I remember knocking on doors and asking people to put their trust in me on Election Day. More than once, I witnessed someone tell me that unfortunately they would not be voting for me. Usually their spouse would be hovering in the background. Then they would lean in and quietly whisper “you have my vote.” I share this anecdote as a reminder that even within our own homes, sometimes we do not feel comfortable sharing with our family and friends how we will be voting.

Now imagine it is Election Day and you are casting your vote online. Your parent, or sibling or partner is hovering over you, watching as you cast your vote on your computer or smartphone. Suddenly it’s not as easy to vote the way you want. And for many, this could compromise the decision of who they vote for and undermine the integrity of an electoral process that is built on trust and the freedom of democratic expression.

The second point I wish to raise for your consideration is the vulnerability of online voting and the importance of having trust in the outcome of our elections. The advantage of having a paper ballot is that it can’t be hacked. In the event of a dispute or concern, ballots can be recounted and individually reviewed. This ensures a high level of security and trust in the democratic process. In fact, the Netherlands, aware of the growing threats to electronic voting, actually returned to a paper and pencil ballot in their recent national elections.

We know that with evolving cyber capabilities, any online system can be vulnerable. And that includes online municipal election systems. With that said, there are ways municipalities can protect themselves and be prepared in the event that a cyber attack is successful. I think it is important for any municipality considering pursuing online voting to have a contingency plan in place. In the event that your online election system is compromised, what steps will you take to address it? I’m not saying that this is something that is bound to happen, but we must remember that trust is the foundation of democratic society. Are you prepared? Who will make this public and when? Like any crisis, having a plan will help even if nothing happens.

I’d now like to move beyond these technical challenges. In the digital age we need to ask ourselves what we can do to ensure voters, and all citizens, have the tools, skills and opportunities they need to fully participate in our democratic life.

And full participation these days includes the ability to recognize when someone is interfering with our democracy.

The good news is it has never been easier to get engaged than it is today. Digital technologies offer us even more opportunities to connect and empower.

And yet these same digital tools are sometimes used against us.

One reason we’re vulnerable relates to a great contradiction of the digital era. Yes, we have access to more information than ever before.

At the same time, some of us may be less informed and less willing to participate.

Today it is said that “it's easier than ever to hear only what you want to hear.”  The information age doesn’t just allow us to have more information than ever before about topics that interest us.

It can also define what we see. That’s due to the way some search engines work, and the way social media sites choose ads based on a user’s browser history.

This means that the type of information we are exposed to is most often information we have self-selected – or rather has been curated for us.

We know the strength of democracy is a diversity of voices and views coming together and debating, discussing, and examining important issues. We can combat this silo effect by seeking information that embraces different opinions, perspectives, and sometimes, a different narrative than we may be used to hearing.

When we are not exposed to other points of view, it means our world view is not broadened, let alone challenged. This, in turn, can ultimately harm democracy.

Of course, we have heard a lot about “fake news” in recent months.

The rise of fake news is a symptom of the larger challenges faced by traditional journalism here in Canada and around the world. This is not a new phenomenon but it is more pervasive. Media organizations and individual journalists now face economic upheaval at the same time as they struggle to respond to the evolution of the information age.

Some Canadian municipalities have lost their only daily newspaper – perhaps some of you in this room have seen this happen in your own communities. And some of the media outlets that have survived may operate with a much smaller staff.

Democratic societies have traditionally relied on a strong and free press, holding government to account. Journalists perform this vital civic function, and it’s essential to a healthy democracy.

We have seen reports of how fake news, which is frequently part of the arsenal of those launching cyber attacks on democracy, has influenced public policy discussions.

This demonstrates how digital media and online information profoundly impact how citizens perceive political reality. These recent trends prove how important it is to be not only consumers of information but also producers of ideas and engaged in our democracy and its institutions.

To fully participate, citizens need to have the right democratic vocabulary, and democratic literacy. We have to come to grips with how we can help Canadians navigate this new landscape.

What does it mean to be a citizen in our democracy? What obligations do citizens have to be informed? To be responsible for their ability to hold government accountable?

We need to challenge ourselves with these questions, and challenge each other, and our institutions, to respond.

It’s an axiom that government moves slowly – though that is often for good reason. Today we live in an on-demand world where citizen expectations are shifting.

What should our governments do to adapt to these new shifts and new expectations? What should different levels of government – including municipalities – do to engage citizens in democratic principles, the democratic process?

As you consider the important matters before you, I urge you to consider how people, how voters, how Canadians, can benefit from the digital age – while avoiding and managing the kinds of risks you’re here today to consider.

I think this is a valuable conversation. And it’s one I am looking forward to continuing. Thank you for this opportunity.