The Liberal government is moving to curb oversized election ballots through Bill C-25, the Strong and Free Elections Act, by tightening nomination rules that the Longest Ballot Committee has used to crowd high-profile races with protest candidates.
The bill focuses on the nomination process rather than ballot design itself, aiming to block repeat tactics that helped generate unusually long candidate lists in recent election cycles.
At the core of the bill are two structural changes. First, one person would be barred from serving as the official agent for more than one candidate in a riding. Second, each voter would be allowed to sign only one candidate’s nomination papers per election cycle.
Together, those provisions target the operational model used by the Longest Ballot Committee to recruit and process large volumes of candidates in a single contest.
A government official briefing media said the bill adopts seven of eight recommendations made this week by a House of Commons committee studying the Longest Ballot Committee’s role in recent elections. The only recommendation left out would have required Elections Canada to add written disclaimers to nomination papers stating that signing more than one candidate’s papers is an offence.
Officials also said the bill would create penalties for collecting signatures on nomination papers before a candidate’s name has been entered. That measure follows allegations presented to the House of Commons by Ryan Davies, co-host of the right-leaning web series Northern Perspective, who submitted video evidence that he said showed Longest Ballot Committee members circulating a nomination sheet without a candidate name.
The organization denies that claim.
The bill would impose fines of up to $25,000 for individuals and up to $100,000 for political parties or other entities, with penalty levels varying according to the frequency and severity of offences.
The pressure for legislative action intensified after the Longest Ballot Committee scaled up its activity in recent races. Spokesman Tomas Szuchewycz, who also serves as the group’s official agent, has acted for hundreds of protest candidates since the group’s formation in 2021. That includes more than 200 candidates in the Battle River—Crowfoot, Alberta byelection last summer, the race won by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
Szuchewycz said he would not comment on the bill before reading its exact wording, but repeated the group’s broader position that elected officials should not control election administration.
“When politicians are in charge of their own election rules, reforms good and bad will always be met with suspicion,” he said.
He further argued that responsibility for election law should instead be transferred to “a permanent, independent and nonpartisan body, such as a citizens’ assembly.”
The bill’s proposed “one agent, one candidate” rule drew some support even from outside government critics. Bonnie Critchley, who ran as an independent in Battle River—Crowfoot and finished second, said she supported that provision. But she opposed limiting voters to signing only one set of nomination papers, arguing that the restriction would cut off access for legitimate non-mainstream contenders before campaigns formally begin.
“People who may be undecided voters would be limited to supporting a single candidate before the campaign even begins,” Critchley said. “This will make it extremely difficult for independent candidates to get the required signatures, and limits viable alternatives within an election.”
Under current rules, prospective candidates must collect at least 100 signatures from voters living in the riding where they plan to run.
The legislation arrives too late to change the next live test case. It will not affect the April 13 byelection in Terrebonne, Quebec, where the ballot has already expanded to 48 candidates after intervention by the Longest Ballot Committee.
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