(Ottawa) The Trudeau government has imposed a tight deadline on the Commission on Foreign Interference so that the recommendations deemed essential that it will make can be implemented in time for the next federal election.
Testifying Friday before the president of the commission, Marie-Josée Hogue, the Minister of Public Security, Dominic LeBlanc, acknowledged that this tight deadline represents a major challenge, but added that the Liberal government and the opposition parties were unanimous in believing that this is essential to ensure better protection of Canadian democracy against the threat of foreign interference.
PHOTO ADRIAN WYLD, THE CANADIAN PRESS
The president of the Commission on Foreign Interference, Marie-Josée Hogue, Friday in Ottawa
The Commission on Foreign Interference is due to deliver a first report on May 3 which will focus on interference activities by China, Russia and India during the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. A final report is to be submitted no later than December 31.
This latest report will assess how national security intelligence is shared across government; the government’s ability to detect, deter and counter foreign interference will also be assessed.
The final report will also contain recommendations on measures to better protect the country against foreign interference.
Tight deadline
“It is true that the deadline represents an enormous task,” said Mr. LeBlanc in response to questions from the commission’s chief prosecutor, Shantona Chaudhury, who wanted to know why the Trudeau government had delayed setting up a commission. .
“But our goal as a government is to make our democracy more robust in the face of foreign interference. We also want to help Canadians better understand this threat. It is important to have the final report at the end of 2024. This will allow the government to evaluate and implement recommendations that can make our institutions more resilient,” he added.
He also welcomed the fact that the mandate given to the commission enjoys the support not only of the Liberal government, but of all the opposition parties recognized in the House of Commons.
He also recalled that he had spent several months negotiating the contours of this mandate with his counterparts from other parties last summer. “We even organized a dinner last fall to celebrate because we believe we have done something important for our democracy and Parliament, namely to agree on the mandate of this commission. »
In the process, Dominique LeBlanc, who is also Minister of Democratic Institutions, pledged that “the entire government machinery” would do everything possible to disclose secret documents to the extent that this does not harm to the work of security agencies.
He argued that transparency is the best weapon to counter foreign interference activities, especially since this threat directly affects “members of the diaspora communities” Chinese, Indian or Russian.
“If we can maximize transparency […]it will help people recognize foreign interference and it is one of the best ways to have voters protected from threats,” he explained.
Around 80% of the documents received so far by Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue’s team are classified. Of these, 80% have the highest protection ratings, meaning they are considered “top secret” at minimum. The commissioner and her entourage have access to the unredacted version of the documents, but she has insisted since her appointment on her desire to make as much information public as possible.
With The Canadian Press