Canada Elections Act

Marginal note:Confidentiality

• 510.1 (1) Subject to subsection (2), neither the Commissioner nor any person acting under his or her direction shall disclose any information relating to an investigation that comes to their knowledge in the exercise of their powers or the performance of their duties and functions under this Act, including information that reveals or from which may be inferred the name of the complainant, if any, the person whose conduct is being investigated or any witness.

• Marginal note:Disclosure authorized

  (2) The Commissioner may disclose or may authorize any person acting under his or her direction to disclose

  • (a) with the consent of the person in question, the name of any of the following: the complainant, if any, the person whose conduct is being investigated and any witness;

  • (b) information that, in the Commissioner’s opinion, is necessary to carry out an investigation;

  • (c) when a prosecution has been instituted under subsection 511(1), information that the Director of Public Prosecutions requires;

  • (c.1) when a review by the Chief Electoral Officer is requested under section 521.14, information that the Chief Elector Officer requires;

  • (d) information that is required to be disclosed in the course of a prosecution for an offence under this Act;

  • (d.1) information that is required to be disclosed in the course of an application for judicial review in respect of a decision taken under this Act;

  • (e) information that is required to be disclosed under any other Act of Parliament;

  • (f) information that, in the Commissioner’s opinion, is necessary in order to enter into or renegotiate a compliance agreement;

  • (f.1) information that, in the Commissioner’s opinion, is necessary in order for a person or entity to provide an undertaking; and

  • (g) information whose disclosure is, in the Commissioner’s opinion, in the public interest.

• Marginal note:Public interest

  (3) For the purposes of paragraph (2)(g), the Commissioner shall take into consideration the effects of disclosure on

  • (a) the privacy rights of any person who is the subject of the disclosure;

  • (b) the right of the person under investigation to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law; and

  • (c) public confidence in the fairness of the electoral process.