Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is launching public consultations to eventually create a registry on foreign influences, and thus help prevent other countries from interfering in Canadian affairs.
The Liberals have been bombarded with questions for a few weeks about allegations, published in the media, that the government failed to act after being informed that China was trying to interfere in the last two federal elections.
Mendicino says the consultation, which he hopes all Canadians will participate in, will run from now until May 9 and will include a virtual portal on the Department of Public Safety’s website.
As part of such a registry, individuals who act on behalf of a foreign state to advance its objectives would have to disclose their ties to the government that employs them.
The idea of such a register, which already exists in Australia and the United States, is to make these interactions more transparent, with the possibility of fines or even prison sentences for non-compliance.
The Liberal government signaled late last year that it wanted to hear from experts and the general public, including members of affected communities, about creating a registry.
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