A Toronto physician is spearheading a push for new legislation to hold Canadian Members of Parliament accountable for making false public statements.
Federico Sanchez has initiated an electronic petition to the House of Commons that urges federal politicians to introduce a bill addressing “perceived and actual misinformation being presented by MPs to the public.” The petition argues that misinformation is a growing threat to the democratic process and that a mechanism is needed to verify politicians’ statements to maintain public trust.
Having gathered more than 8,700 signatures, the petition has far surpassed the 500 required for certification and presentation to the House, which will trigger a formal government response. It remains open for signatures until November 27.
Sanchez, who once ran unsuccessfully for office as a Progressive Conservative in Ontario, stated his goal is to prevent Canada from following the path of the United States, where he sees the unchecked spread of political misinformation eroding public confidence. “We don’t have as bad a problem with misinformation coming from elected officials,” he said, “but we are headed in that direction, if you ask me.”
The petition cites a legislative process underway in Wales as a potential model for Canada. The Welsh government has announced plans to introduce a law that could disqualify politicians from public office if an independent judicial process finds them guilty of deliberate deception.
A Welsh civil society group, the Institute for Constitutional and Democratic Research, has proposed a specific framework. Under its model, a court finding that a politician made a false or misleading statement could issue a “correction notice,” requiring a public retraction. If the politician failed to comply within seven days without a reasonable excuse, the court could bar them from holding office in the Welsh Parliament for a specified period. The model allows any registered voter to apply for a correction order, while empowering the court to dismiss applications deemed trivial, vexatious, or unlikely to succeed.
Alex Marland, a political science professor at Acadia University, said that while the initiative will spark valuable discussion, he foresees practical challenges. He explained that the political world is complex, and distinguishing truth from falsehood is not always straightforward. Marland suggested that a politician might occasionally utter a falsehood or withhold information for what they perceive as the greater good.
“The weird thing about politics is, sometimes, we can’t live in a world of complete purity,” he said. “It’s a very messy field to be in.”
Marland added that voters, not an appointed judiciary, should be the ones to decide who is fit to serve in the legislature. He believes attention should instead be directed toward regulating the social media platforms that accelerate the spread of political misinformation. “If they’re the ones that are allowing deceit and lies and other things to propagate,” he asked, “why is the focus not on them?”
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