Ottawa Aims to Protect Electoral Process; Former Radio-Canada Producer Nick Gamache Comments

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">With an election approaching&comma; the federal government is taking steps to combat possible foreign interference&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In an effort to  protect the the country’s democratic process against potential threats&comma; Ottawa is setting up a new &&num;8220&semi;critical election incident public protocol&&num;8221&semi; group made up of five senior bureaucrats who  could alert Canadians in the event of interference&period; The panel includes the Clerk of the Privy Council&comma; the federal national security and intelligence advisor&comma; as well as three deputy ministers&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould said it would be naive to assume the country won’t be targeted during the campaign&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Our democracy is rooted in trust in the electoral process and the legitimacy of the outcome&comma;” Gould said in a<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;canada&period;ca&sol;en&sol;democratic-institutions&sol;news&sol;2019&sol;01&sol;government-of-canada-unveils-plan-to-safeguard-canadas-election&period;html" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener"> statement<&sol;a>&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Canadians have a role to play in protecting the democratic process&period; I am confident that the measures announced today will enhance Canadians’ confidence in the electoral process&comma; and that our Government is prepared to address attempts by malicious actors to manipulate the system&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Ottawa noted that foreign and malicious actors are becoming more creative at using online platforms to manipulate opinions&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Canadians can be the best line of defence in our efforts to fight foreign interference and disinformation by becoming better informed about the tactics used online to deceive&comma;”  the statement read&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In order to strengthen security practices&comma; government systems will improve coordination to identify threats&comma; emerging tactics and systems vulnerabilities&period; In addition&comma; Canada’s security agencies will work to prevent covert&comma; clandestine or criminal activities by foreign actors from interfering in the electoral process&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The federal government says it expects social media platforms to play a part in protecting democracy&comma; as disinformation online can create confusion and  contribute to reinforce existing social tensions&period; The government says it is looking for concrete actions from social media companies to increase transparency&comma; authenticity and integrity to help safeguard the election&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Meanwhile&comma; some media organizations are also taking steps to eliminate cyber and information threats to democracy&period; <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;nickgamachejournalist&period;brandyourself&period;com&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Nick Gamache<&sol;a>&comma; former Radio-Canada producer&comma; explains&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Organizations are becoming more sophisticated in their use of social media in order to detect patterns and potential sources of disinformation&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;crunchbase&period;com&sol;person&sol;nick-gamache-journalist" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Nick Gamache<&sol;a> adds&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;More newsrooms are also focusing on electoral issues and putting a spotlight on the tactics being used by those who are trying to interfere with the system&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In the current environment&comma; delivering a secure election requires  a sustained effort from many players&period; Along with that work&comma; individual Canadians have a part to play&comma; learning about cyber security risks and taking steps to protect themselves&period; Such actions will help create a positive and protected environment during the election campaign&comma; allowing politicians of all stripes to freely express their opinions&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;