Statement by Minister of Foreign Affairs on Russia’s sham presidential election

March 18, 2024 - Ottawa - Global Affairs Canada

The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement:

“Canada is deeply concerned by the flawed electoral process that concluded in Russia on March 17, 2024. Russia has violated international commitments on the conduct of elections that it had previously accepted, including those in the 1990 Copenhagen Document. Canada condemns the conduct of voting in occupied territories of Ukraine, which is a blatant breach of international law.

“The presidential election in Russia was a non-democratic process that does not conform to international standards. Flaws include a biased and exclusionary nomination procedure, abuse of public resources in favour of Vladimir Putin’s candidacy, extremely unbalanced media coverage, lack of public discussion of policy issues, and lack of guarantees of secrecy in electronic voting. The system was stacked to benefit the favoured candidate and deny voters a meaningful choice long before balloting began.

“Sadly for the Russian people, Putin has constructed a political system in which human rights are denied. His opponents are arrested and silenced, a free media does not operate and citizens are denied genuine political options.

“Putin offers his people and the world a bleak vision in which military aggression abroad is matched by political repression at home. While he may celebrate today, history will judge Putin poorly for his authoritarianism, war and the illegal attempted annexation of the territory of a neighbouring country.”