Federal MPs began “knowingly assisting” foreign state actors shortly after their election, including by sending confidential information to Indian officials, reveals the Committee of Parliamentarians on National Security and Intelligence.
In a report released Monday, the committee said Canadian spy agencies produced a body of intelligence showing that foreign actors had relationships with Canadian MPs and senators.
The Committee was charged with assessing foreign interference in federal election processes, including attempts at interference in the last two elections.
At a press briefing Monday afternoon, the Minister of Public Security, Dominic Leblanc, refused to comment on the committee’s allegations.
“I have great confidence in our national security and intelligence agencies to do the job they do. […] I don’t think it’s helpful to comment on any specific individual allegation,” he told reporters.
The report comes weeks after the Hogue Commission report, which revealed that foreign interference activities may have impacted the electoral results of a small number of ridings in the last two federal elections.
Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue, however, specified that these acts had no impact on the election of the Liberal Party of Canada.
Too slow to react
The committee of parliamentarians also accuses Ottawa of having been too slow to react to the activities of foreign interference, such as China and India.
Canada’s delayed response “represents a serious shortcoming that could have consequences for Canada for many years,” he wrote.
The hundred-page report also notes that the “gaps mean that there are few means to effectively deter foreign states and their proxies established in Canada from carrying out interference activities.”
Minister Leblanc defended himself by claiming to have implemented a series of measures to combat foreign interference.
“I think it is important to remember that when we formed the government in 2015, there were no measures in place to detect disruptions and counter foreign interference in the electoral context,” he said .
However, the examination carried out by the committee also revealed that the reforms put in place by the government in 2018 failed to act on foreign interference in democratic processes and institutions.
According to committee members, Canada is “only now beginning” to see the implementation of measures to act on foreign interference activities.
The government recently introduced Bill C-70, An Act respecting combating foreign interference.
Be careful with diplomats
In its recommendations, the committee warns all elected officials in Ottawa of the possible ethical and legal consequences of their relationships with foreign representatives.
At the committee on foreign interference, former Liberal MP Han Dong, now an independent, admitted that he had spoken to a senior Chinese diplomat regarding the arbitrary detention of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor in China.
Asked about the instructions that could be sent to MPs, Minister Leblanc affirms that the government “is not going to legislate or try to manage meetings” between parliamentarians and diplomats, considering that it is perfectly within the right of parliamentarians to meet whoever they want.
Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue’s final report on foreign interference is expected at the end of the year.
With Boris Proulx