Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said the Liberals are not ready to set up the bureau on foreign interference they promised in last month’s federal budget.
Mr. Mendicino appeared Thursday morning before a House of Commons committee studying the issue. He said he wanted the office to be up and running “as soon as possible,” but offered no timeline.
Bloc Québécois MP Marie-Hélène Gaudreau says the Liberals need to put mechanisms in place to bolster people’s faith in democracy, as allegations of foreign interference have been circulating in the media for months.
The Liberal budget allocated $56 million over five years to counter foreign interference, threats and covert activities. Most of this envelope goes to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to investigate threats and work proactively with diaspora communities.
The funding would also be used to launch a national counter-foreign interference office that would help coordinate Canada’s response to threats from countries like China and Russia.
The Liberals are also considering launching a registry of foreign agents or people paid to defend the interests of foreign states, but Mendicino says Ottawa is still working out the details, including whether or not that should apply. to Canadian citizens.
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