Report of the Committee on National Security | Parliamentarians would participate in foreign interference

(Ottawa) Canadian parliamentarians would collaborate in the interference efforts of foreign states, among other things by providing confidential information to representatives of the Indian government, we learn in a report published Monday.

“Some parliamentarians are, according to the intelligence services, half-willing or half-willing participants in the efforts of foreign states to interfere in the country’s politics,” reads an explosive document produced by the Committee of Parliamentarians on Security national security and intelligence (CPSNR).

Examples cited in the document include:

• Communicate frequently with foreign missions before or during an election campaign to gain support from community groups or businesses that diplomatic missions promise to quietly mobilize in favor of the candidate.
• Knowingly or willfully ignorantly accepting funds or benefits from foreign missions or their agents that have passed through multiple hands or are otherwise disguised to conceal the source.
• Providing foreign diplomatic representatives with inside information about the work or opinions of other parliamentarians, knowing that these representatives will use this information to inappropriately pressure parliamentarians to change their positions.
• Obeying requests or orders from foreign representatives to improperly influence colleagues or parliamentary proceedings in favor of a foreign state.
• Providing information learned in confidence from the government to a known intelligence agent of a foreign state.

These “particularly worrying” examples characterize the conduct of “a few parliamentarians”, who are not identified in the report. It is noted, however, that “some elected representatives knowingly began assisting foreign state actors shortly after their election.”

India has been a beneficiary. MPs actually “employed themselves to influence their colleagues on behalf of India” and they “proactively provided confidential information to Indian representatives”, we explain without detailing the stratagems implemented.

The People’s Republic of China, however, remains “clearly the most prolific actor”, having developed “a comprehensive approach to targeting and exploiting almost every aspect of Canada’s democratic processes and institutions in order to advance its strategic interests,” according to the Committee.

The Chinese regime also “greatly influenced” the candidacy, under the Liberal banner, in 2019, of Han Dong, and he “knowingly violated the rule of the Liberal Party of Canada stipulating that voters eligible for the nomination vote candidates must reside in the constituency.

Severe reprimands for Justin Trudeau

While some of these actions “may be illegal,” they are “likely not to result in charges” “since Canada has still not resolved the long-standing problem regarding the protection of classified information and methods in legal proceedings,” the report emphasizes.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is personally excoriated by the Committee. Because he turned a deaf ear to recommendations aimed at ensuring that deputies and senators are clearly informed of the dangers of foreign interference and its manifestations.

While the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has certainly offered “certain MPs” information sessions, a “comprehensive strategy” targeting all parliamentarians has not been implemented, even though the Privy Council Office (BCP) “twice requested authorization from the Prime Minister”.

The members of the Committee come from both Houses of Parliament. Its members – three Liberals, two Conservatives, one Bloc, one New Democrat and three independent senators – have a top-secret security clearance, in addition to being bound to secrecy in perpetuity.

These alarming findings were made public one month to the day after the publication of the interim report by Judge Marie-Josée Hogue, who chairs the Commission on Foreign Interference. Its final report must be submitted no later than December 31.

Be careful, pleads Dominic LeBlanc

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc called for caution in interpreting the information contained in the damning report. “Some do not include the necessary reservation to be applied to security information,” he argued.

“There are elements with which the government respectfully disagrees,” he also said at a press briefing, refusing to elaborate on certain examples raised in the document, deeming this exercise “ill-advised”.