Registration of foreign influence among the tools proposed in the bill

Article content

OTTAWA – Newly introduced legislation to combat foreign interference would strengthen criminal provisions, open the door to broader sharing of confidential information and establish a foreign influence transparency registry.

The Liberal government introduced the bill Monday in the House of Commons, saying it would better equip authorities to detect, disrupt and protect against foreign meddling.

Article content

Article content

“Canada is a strong, open and free democracy,” Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc told reporters. “These strengths, however, can make Canada a target for those who wish to advance their interests, to the detriment of ours.”

The legislation would create specific foreign interference offenses aimed at deceptive or surreptitious acts that undermine democratic processes. An example would be covertly influencing the outcome of a political process such as the nomination of a candidate, the government says.

Another new offense would prohibit deceptive or clandestine acts that harm Canadian interests (for example, assisting foreign agents posing as tourists to enter Canada).

Additionally, the bill would amend the law to better address foreign intimidation of members of diaspora communities in Canada.

A new crime of sabotage would focus on conduct directed at essential infrastructure, such as systems that enable transportation or communications, or support the provision of health and food services.

The bill would also allow the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to disclose sensitive information beyond the halls of government to build resilience against foreign meddling.

Article content

Article content

States may engage in interference to promote foreign political objectives and may employ individuals to act on their behalf without disclosing ties to the foreign state.

The new foreign influence transparency registry would require certain people to register with the federal government to help protect against such activity.

An independent commissioner would administer the registration scheme, which would be enforced through notices, monetary fines and, in the most serious cases, criminal sanctions.

The bill also:

— introduce new CSIS orders for specific investigative techniques;

— improve CSIS’s ability to use information data sets;

— assist CSIS in collecting, from Canada, foreign intelligence on the intentions and capabilities of foreign states and individuals;

— and create a streamlined process under the Canada Evidence Act regarding the protection and use of confidential information in proceedings such as judicial reviews and legal appeals in the Federal Court.

The bill comes just days after a federal commission of inquiry found that foreign interference from China, India, Russia or others did not affect the overall results of the 2019 and 2021 general elections.

Article content

In an interim report on Friday, Commissioner Marie-Josee Hogue said it was possible, but not certain, that results in a small number of constituencies were affected by the meddling.

Hogue generally concluded that foreign interference had undermined public confidence in Canadian democracy, saying it was perhaps the greatest damage Canada had experienced.

The Business Council of Canada applauded the new bill and said CSIS would be able to communicate more specific and tangible information to Canadian businesses.

“This would give business leaders a clearer understanding of the growing threat, as well as the protective measures that could be taken to better safeguard their employees, customers and the communities in which they operate,” said council president Goldy Hyder.

More needs to be done to address foreign interference, especially actions that involve threats or lead to actual harm, said the Ottawa-based International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, a coalition of 45 organizations including Amnesty International, the Council of Canadians and the Canadian Muslim Forum. .

However, many of the bill’s proposals go far beyond addressing foreign interference and will have wide-ranging impacts on the rights and freedoms of people in Canada, the monitoring group said.

This includes significant changes to CSIS’s powers to secretly collect and analyze large amounts of information about Canadians, what information CSIS can reveal and to whom, and new rules about what evidence can be revealed in open court, the group said.

“These and other changes deserve their own specific scrutiny, but instead they are being bundled with another omnibus bill.”

Article content