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Why some Ontario voters are turning to AI chatbots for 2026 municipal elections
Some Ontario voters turn to AI for election info
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
Eric Apps had an inkling of who would get his vote in Toronto’s municipal election, but the lawyer wanted a second opinion before making his final decision.
In Parkdale-High Park, his usual safe choice in longtime councillor Gord Perks was taken away when the 63-year-old decided to retire. The race for the city’s west-end ward has ballooned to 10 candidates — none of whom Apps is familiar with.
He turned to a system he was familiar with: Claude, Anthropic's artificial intelligence chatbot. Apps asked the bot for the top five polling candidates in his ward and their policies on issues such as bike lanes, housing and property taxes.
"It laid them all out in a very easily digestible format," he said.
Apps is not the only one turning to AI for election information. During Quebec's provincial election earlier this month, an estimated 40 per cent of the province's voters turned to AI chatbots and received false and outdated information about the election, according to McGill University researchers. Many Quebec news outlets don't allow chatbots to access their websites, so their reports cannot be mined for users' queries.
Experts say this marks a troubling shift in the democratic process, where citizen engagement and human judgment is superseded by some algorithms that could be providing false information.
There were a few gaps in Apps' own search, he noted. The chatbot could not provide much information on candidates who weren’t as widely reported on by news outlets or who didn't have very active online presences. He acknowledged that some of the gaps could be related to the parameters of his questions.
“The blind spots are probably in the eyes of the beholders,” Apps said. “If you have your point of view going into it, then it probably is going to be giving back information that is not necessarily going to focus on opening your eyes.”
Alissa Centivany, an associate professor of Information and media studies at Western University, said artificial intelligence bots have replaced traditional search engines, such as Google, and reliable media platforms, such as news organizations' websites.
For some voters, chatbots have become their main method of seeking information.
For AI researchers like Centivany, it remains unclear what an AI chatbot’s "technical process" is as it scrapes the internet for information. Centivany notes that the quality of information AI chatbots can compile is often lower than she would hope for, especially in the context of political elections.
One concerning element, she said, is that the mishmash of information it gathers can include user-generated content from social media sites like Reddit. Centivany said researchers are starting to see evidence of how a bot will compile information based on what they think a user will want to hear, based on past queries, as opposed to objective facts.
“A lot of it is opinion, a lot of it is untrue, a lot of it is inflammatory,” she said. “And it’s being used as a source of information.”
As he asked Claude more questions about candidates in his ward, Apps said he was also keenly aware of its limitations, especially with the influx of content on social media platforms, such as TikTok and Instagram.
"You have to take your AI engine with a grain of salt," he said. "It gave me the basic information and then it puts it back to the viewer."
The accessibility of the AI platforms made political participation easier, Apps said. While he considers himself somewhat politically aware, he said the chatbot acted as an information "refresher."
"You ask it a question and it gives you an answer," he said. "It's not giving you glossy videos with clickbait-ish headlines."
Anthropic said Claude uses web search to find up-to-date information and shows its sourcing so users can "judge their credibility for themselves."
"Claude is trained to note when claims are disputed, when sources conflict, or when a source may be inaccurate or have an agenda," the company said in a statement to The Canadian Press.
Earlier this month, Anthropic announced new updates to its usage policies, which included a "refocusing" of their elections section and political content restrictions.
"We’ve further sharpened our section on elections, focusing it specifically on disallowing the use of Claude to deceive voters or disrupt elections (for instance, by spreading false information about candidates or how to vote, impersonating candidates or election officials, or trying to suppress turnout)," the company's news release read.
Alex Marland, a professor of Canadian politics and the Jarislowsky Chair in Trust and Political Leadership at Acadia University, said it makes sense that voters would turn to an accessible tool such as AI for information about candidates in elections.
Typically, people might vote for the political party they most align with, but candidates in Ontario municipal elections are not affiliated with a party.
“What ends up happening is you have to invest a lot more time to try to understand, 'What are my choices and what do these people stand for?'" Marland said.
It’s a positive sign that voters want to get engaged in municipal politics, Marland said, since Ontario’s last municipal election had record-low voter turnout. According to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, the average voter turnout in the 2022 was almost 33 per cent, compared to roughly 38 per cent in 2018.
But it’s up to users to be vigilant in fact-checking the information they’re receiving, Marland added.
“This is a piece of information that is going in with other pieces of information."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2026.
By Sadeen Mohsen | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Alberta introduces new flag rules and restrictions for all schools starting in 2027
Alberta introduces new flag rules for schools
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
The Alberta government has announced new rules on when, how, and what flags can be displayed at schools.
Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides says the flags of Canada and Alberta must be flown outside schools during the school year.
Other flags -- including the Franco-Albertan flag, municipal flags and the Royal Union Flag -- can be displayed on specified days.
First Nations and Metis Settlement flags and foreign national flags can be displayed inside a school building during official occasions and on other specified days.
No other flag displays are permitted without permission from the province.
The new rules begin on Jan. 4, 2027.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2026.
Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Quebec premier announces $28 million for warming centres and emergency shelters
Quebec premier announces millions for homelessness
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi
Quebec's new premier says the provincial government will spend $28 million in emergency funding to address homelessness.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon announced the new funding in his first major announcement since he was sworn in as premier on Wednesday.
St-Pierre Plamondon says the money will go to warming centres and emergency shelters across Quebec.
The Montreal area is slated to get $18 million out of the total.
Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada joined the premier for the announcement.
She says she is thrilled the new provincial government has made homelessness its first order of business.
She noted how the city had come up with a homelessness strategy for the winter, but needed $20 million from the provincial government to implement its plan.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2026.
By Erika Morris | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Cette friperie ultra tendance à Montréal te permet d'échanger ta garde-robe à petit prix
Quand l'abonnement à l'année te coûte moins cher qu'un pantalon du Aritzia! 🤑
Tu manques d'inspiration lorsque vient le temps de choisir tes vêtements le matin? Cette friperie nouveau genre pourrait bien être la solution à ce problème récurrent. Avec trois locations sur l'île de Montréal, les boutiques Le Shwap Club allient aisément, morceaux de qualité et écoresponsabilité. Ça peut être une bonne idée d'y faire un tour pour économiser de l'argent tout en comblant tes envies de fashionista.
Eh oui, basée sur un concept ingénieux de troc, cette entreprise te permet d'échanger les vêtements qui ne te plaisent plus pour de nouveaux. Tu peux donc obtenir une garde-robe presque à l'infini pour moins de 120 $! Bonus? Tu encourages la mode responsable en offrant à tes vêtements une seconde vie. C'est la définition même de rendre l'utile à l'agréable.
Le concept est simple. Tu sélectionnes préalablement des morceaux que tu souhaites donner pour les apporter au « Shwap ». Tu devras ensuite payer des frais d'entrée de 18 $ ou de 10 $ si tu es accompagné.e d'une personne membre. L'équipe se chargera, par la suite, de faire le tri dans tes vêtements. Un abonnement annuel à 115 $ est aussi disponible si tu trippes sur le principe et que tu comptes y aller plusieurs fois pour faire du troc.
Pour chaque pièce sélectionnée, que ce soit un short, un manteau, une écharpe, tu reçois un crédit que tu pourras ensuite échanger, « Shwapper », pour un autre item en magasin. Chaque morceau vaut un crédit que ce soit une robe Aritzia, un chandail du H&M ou une paire de chaussures de L'Intervalle. Tu as bien compris, tu peux donc aisément échanger un pull de chez Zara contre un manteau Frank and Oak par exemple.
Attention, l'équipe du Shwap Club ne prend pas n'importe quoi et est très sélective quand vient le temps d'inspecter et de choisir les morceaux qui entreront dans l'inventaire de la boutique.
Ainsi, les vêtements salis ou qui possèdent des défauts (trou, taches aux aisselles, fermeture éclair défaillante, bouton manquant, etc.) te seront remis. Même chose pour les pièces qui ne correspondent pas à la saison recherchée ou qui auraient un prix original de moins de 25 $. Certains styles plus populaires et aimés de la clientèle seront aussi privilégiés.
Le Shwap Club détient deux locaux sur l'île de Montréal soit l'un dans Saint-Henri et l'autre dans le Mile-Ex. Notons qu'un petit nouveau s'est ajouté en 2022 à Verdun, Le Petit Shwap Club, qui permet d'échanger des vêtements pour bébé.
Le Shwap Club
Coût : 115 $ pour un abonnement d'un an, 18 $ pour une entrée sans abonnement et 10 $ pour une entrée accompagné.e d'un.e membre.
Adresse : 4710, rue Saint-Ambroise #265, Montréal QC (Saint-Henri); 6682, rue Jeanne-Mance, Montréal, QC (Mile-Ex); 5025, rue Wellington, Verdun, QC (Le Petit Shwap Club)
Accessibilité : Accessible aux fauteuils roulants et aux poussettes
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