OTTAWA–GATINEAU – With the next federal election on the horizon, the CRTC is asking Canadians to weigh in on the factors that should be considered when setting the penalty amounts for violations of the Voter Contact Registry.
As part of recent amendments to the Canada Elections Act and the Telecommunications Act, the CRTC is responsible for establishing and maintaining a Voter Contact Registry during federal elections. Persons, corporations, or groups that engage in voter contact calls in relation to an election will be required to file registration notices and identifying information with the Commission for inclusion in the Voter Contact Registry.
Political entities, including candidates and political parties, corporations, trade associations and other persons or groups using calling service providers to make voter contact calls, either live or through an automatic dialing and announcing device (automatic dialer), will need to register with the CRTC within 48 hours of making the first call. The calling service provider will also need to register.
In addition, anyone using their own internal services to make voter contact calls using an automatic dialer will have to register with the CRTC. With the exception of third parties who are corporations or groups, those who make live voter contact calls using their own internal services will not have to register.
“The CRTC is looking forward to doing its part to help protect Canadians from rogue or misleading calls during a federal election”, said CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais, in a statement Monday. “While our main objective is to ensure those making calls are familiar with the new requirements, we will have the ability to impose monetary penalties for violations. Based on our experience in enforcing the telemarketing and anti-spam rules, we have set out a list of factors that could be considered in setting the amounts. We look forward to receiving comments on the proposed factors.”
The Commission may impose monetary penalties that range from a maximum of $1,500 for individuals to $15,000 for corporations for each violation. Possible factors that would help determine the amount of a penalty could include:
– the nature of the violation;
– the number and frequency of complaints and violations;
– the relative disincentive of the penalty;
– the potential for future violations;
– whether the person or group has a history of previous violations, and
– the person’s or group’s ability to pay the penalty.
Comments on these factors, as well as other suggestions, must be submitted to the CRTC prior to December 17, 2014.
