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Results: 1 - 14 of 14
View John Brassard Profile
CPC (ON)
How did we get to the point where Elections Canada paid $650,000 to social media influencers who were proven to act in a partisan nature from previous posts that they made on social media? Who made the decision to engage in that type of activity within Elections Canada, and why was there no vetting done of these influencers?
Stéphane Perrault
View Stéphane Perrault Profile
Stéphane Perrault
2020-03-12 11:38
There are a number of elements here. I think I need to step back a bit to describe what the issue was that we were trying to resolve. In 2015, we had what I call a 30% gap in youth registration. There were 72% of first-time voters, aged 18 to 24, who were registered. This means that 28% did not get a voter information card, which gives them basic information about where and when to vote. That is a big challenge and I think it's critical for us to make sure that all Canadian voters have that basic information. In the lead-up to this election, there was discussion on how to address this and we decided to have a pre-writ campaign, a segment of which was going to involve the use of those influencers.
View John Brassard Profile
CPC (ON)
How are these influencers vetted? That's my question. I know there was a gap and I know that the mandate of Elections Canada is to engage Canadians. I get that. The $650,000 was spent on these social media influencers who clearly had a partisan bias in their history. My question is this: Who made the decision and why weren't they vetted?
Stéphane Perrault
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Stéphane Perrault
2020-03-12 11:39
We did work with a private ad company that provided—
Stéphane Perrault
View Stéphane Perrault Profile
Stéphane Perrault
2020-03-12 11:39
I think it's Adcart but I want to make sure.
Ultimately, I'm accountable for that. The ad company is not accountable. We did ask them to clearly and carefully vet all the influencers and I asked my team to do the same. Obviously, that vetting did not perform to my satisfaction.
Stéphane Perrault
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Stéphane Perrault
2020-03-12 11:40
We did not pay $200,000 to the ad company that would otherwise have been paid. They agreed not to ask for that money in their own fees. The only thing that was paid were out-of-pocket expenses for the production and mostly the money given to the influencers themselves.
Stéphane Perrault
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Stéphane Perrault
2020-03-12 11:40
I'll provide that, but it is my accountability; it's not their accountability.
Stéphane Perrault
View Stéphane Perrault Profile
Stéphane Perrault
2020-03-12 11:40
I want to be clear on that. This is not part of our playbook moving forward. We have no plans. In fact, I do plan not to have that moving forward.
Results: 1 - 14 of 14

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