By Canadian Press

Elections Canada scraps social media ‘influencers’ to encourage youth vote

Jun 20, 2019 | 12:03 PM

OTTAWA — Elections Canada is scrapping plans to use social media “influencers” to persuade young Canadians to register to vote in this fall’s federal election.

Chief electoral officer Stephane Perrault says a final vetting of 13 people chosen for the campaign turned up some past activities that could be seen as partisan.

He says he didn’t have the reassurances he needed that Elections Canada would maintain its reputation for “unimpeachable neutrality.”

Perrault’s decision to scrap the campaign comes after sustained criticism of the idea from Conservative MPs, who said it would benefit the ruling Liberals and alleged it was evidence of bias on the part of the agency that oversees elections.

Among those who were supposed to take part in a video encouraging young adults to register were Olympic athletes Andre De Grasse, Penny Oleksiak and Max Parrot and YouTubers Mitch Hughes, Elle Mills and Lilly Singh.

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The video was just one part of a larger campaign that will be launched June 25 to reach youth, new Canadians, Indigenous people, disabled electors and others who face barriers to taking part in elections and whose turnout is typically much lower than average.

The Canadian Press