OpenMedia Submission to the Finance Committee Calls for Stronger Voter Privacy Protections

OpenMedia has urged the Standing Committee on Finance to remove Part 4 of Bill C-4, which would enable continued abuse by political parties in how they collect and use voter data.

On October 20, 2025, OpenMedia submitted a brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (FINA) about Part 4 of Bill C-4: An Act respecting certain affordability measures for Canadians and another measure. This part of the bill proposes changes to the Canada Elections Act that would affect how political parties collect and use voters’ personal information.

OpenMedia made this submission as both a signatory to the Canadians for Digital Sovereignty (C4DS) open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, published on September 2, 2025, and a member of the C4DS steering committee.

In our brief, we attached the open letter on digital sovereignty, signed by over 70 Canadian organizations and individuals, including OpenMedia. We highlighted that recommendation 5(b) of that letter is directly relevant to Part 4 of Bill C-4. It calls on the federal government to re-introduce the Canadian Privacy Protection Act (CPPA), and to explicitly extend privacy protections to Canada’s federal political parties, something that polls show an overwhelming majority of Canadians strongly support.

Unfortunately, Part 4 of Bill C-4 goes in the opposite direction. Like the former Bill C-47, it rejects this important recommendation and extends to end run around the valid complaint on voter privacy currently before British Columbia’s Court of Appeal which seeks to affirm federal parties are bound by BC privacy law. While the Department of Justice’s June 11, 2025 analysis claimed that Bill C-4 raises no Charter issues, the proposed changes still need to be looked at more closely.

That’s why we’re urging FINA to take a closer look. Specifically, we’re asking the Committee to:

• Hold several hearings on Part 4 of Bill C-4, with witness panels that include experts in privacy, constitutional law, and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms; 
• Invite voices from civil society, academia, the private sector, government, and political parties, especially the Liberals, Conservatives, and NDP. Particularly include senior political operatives who can explain how their parties’ voter relationship management systems (VRMS) collect, use, and share Canadians’ personal information (for example, Tom Pitfield and Sean Wiltshire from Data Sciences, which manages the Liberal VRMS, and their counterparts with the other major parties);
• Include the privacy officers of each party to discuss the potential benefits and risks of Part 4; and
• Recommend in its final report that Part 4 be removed from Bill C-4.

We urge FINA to consider the recommendations endorsed by over 70 experts and organizations in the C4DS open letter. OpenMedia would welcome the opportunity to testify before the Committee to share our insights on Part 4 of Bill C-4 and our ongoing work to strengthen voter privacy protections in Canada.

Brief submitted to the Standing Committee on Finance in English and French.