Parliamentary Committee Notes: Critical Election Incident Public Protocol – PS Role

2023-2024 Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (PROC)
Date: February 25, 2023
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Fully releasable (ATIP)? Yes
Branch / Agency: NCSB/PS

Foreign Interference: Critical Election Incident Public Protocol

Background

Critical Election Incident Public Protocol (CEIPP)

Canada has observed state-sponsored information manipulation, aimed at reshaping or undermining the rules-based-international order. Disinformation, originating from anywhere in the world, can have serious consequences including threats to the safety and security of Canadians, erosion of trust in our democratic institutions, and confusion about government policies and notices.

The Government of Canada has established the CEIPP in order to ensure coherence and consistency in Canada's approach to publicly informing Canadians during the caretaker period about incidents that threaten Canada's ability to have a free and fair election. The CEIPP has a limited mandate. It lays out a process through which Canadians would be notified of an incident that threatens Canada's ability to have a free and fair election, should notification be necessary. CEIPP is only initiated to respond to incidents that occur during the caretaker period, and that do not fall within Elections Canada's areas of responsibility (i.e., with regard to the administration of the election, as identified in the Canada Elections Act). Incidents that occur outside of the caretaker period will be addressed through regular Government of Canada operations.

The CEIPP is administered by a group of senior civil servants who, working with the national security agencies within the agencies' existing mandates, are responsible for determining whether the threshold for informing Canadians has been met, either through a single incident or an accumulation of separate incidents.

This Panel is comprised of:

Cabinet Directive on the Critical Election Incident Public Protocol - Canada.ca

Date modified: