Close nomination loopholes exploited by Longest Ballot Committee, MPs say

OTTAWA — A committee studying the impact of protest group the Longest Ballot Committee (LBC) in recent Canadian elections is calling on Parliament to close nomination loopholes the group has used to flood ballots with paper candidates.

In a report released Tuesday , MPs representing a multipartisan House of Commons committee on democratic procedures recommended multiple revisions to the Elections Act to make it harder for frivolous candidates to appear on the ballot. Such revisions include a prohibition on signing more than one candidate’s nomination papers per cycle and, pivotally, an amendment to prohibit individuals from serving as the official agent for more than one candidate per electoral district.

LBC member Tomas Szuchewycz has been the official agent for hundreds of protest candidates in eight federal election races since 2021, including more than 200 candidates in last summer’s byelection in Battle River—Crowfoot, Alta.

The report said that allowing an individual to be the official agent for more than one candidate in a given riding “seems to run contrary to the very nature of elections, which are competitive contests, with only one candidate declared the winner in every riding.”

“If anything, having the same official agent for two or more candidates who are competing against each other in the same riding places the official agent in an apparent, if not real, conflict of interest,” continues the report.

The report also delved into allegations of questionable practices by the LBC in nominating candidates, including accusations that the group collected signatures on a nomination form where the candidate’s name was left blank in contravention of the law.

Tomas Szuchewycz denied this accusation in a statement, saying that the MP’s on the committee got “bamboozled” by the deceptive editing of right-leaning YouTube channel Northern Perspective.

“This is just another clear example which demonstrates exactly why MPs should not be in charge of their own election rules, wrote Szuchewycz. “(They) were so eager to believe anything that would put the (LBC) in a bad light, they left their critical faculties at the door.”

The report noted that there were “approximately 18,000 complaints” submitted to elections officials about the LBC’s activities during the April 2025 general election.

Bonnie Critchley, who ran as an independent in the Battle River—Crowfoot byelection, estimates the LBC cost her “at least 20 per cent of the vote.”

Critchley, who finished runner-up to Pierre Poilievre with just under 10 per cent of the vote , says the LBC hampered her ability to run a non-partisan, local issues focused campaign.

She noted that her name was lost in a sea of hundreds of gag candidates, who also bore the “independent” label, in printed candidate lists distributed to voters.

“Deputy returning officers at multiple polling stations were witnessed handing out a book of candidate names with those attached to parties listed at the front and independents listed at the back,” said Critchley.

Critchley says her team lodged multiple complaints about the LBC.

Szuchewycz, for his part, was unrepentant about the LBC’s activities and said the group will move forward with a plan to flood the ballot in the upcoming Apr. 13 byelection in Terrebonne, Qc.

“ The only recommended change that would impact us would be a new ban on voters nominating more than one candidate, but we are looking forward to meeting this new challenge,” wrote Szuchewycz.

National Post rmohamed@postmedia.com

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