Liberal government tables bill aimed at curbing foreign interference

Catharine Tunney · CBC News

· Posted: May 06, 2024 3:37 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

The federal government has tabled a bill aimed at countering foreign interference, just days after a public inquiry said attempts by other countries to meddle in Canada's last two elections undermined Canadians' trust in democracy.

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc introduced the bill — officially titled "An Act respecting countering foreign interference" — in the House of Commons Monday afternoon.

His department is expected to brief reporters about what's actually in the bill this afternoon.

The government has consulted the public on whether it should move ahead with a foreign agent registry and whether it's time to update how Canada's spy agency operates.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has advocated publicly for new powers and the ability to share information with targets of interference apart from the government, such as researchers, businesses and Indigenous communities.

A foreign agent registry requires people who act on behalf of a foreign state to disclose their ties to the government employing them. Such registries are in place in the U.S. and Australia.

The idea is to make the work of foreign agents more transparent, with the prospect of fines or even prison time for those who fail to comply.

The bill comes just days after the public inquiry investigating foreign meddling issued its first report, which found foreign interference "undermined the right of voters to have an electoral ecosystem free from coercion or covert influence."

Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, who is leading the inquiry, stressed that attempts at foreign interference did not affect which political party formed the government in the 2019 and 2021 general elections.

Hogue said none of the evidence she's heard to date suggests officials acted in "bad faith" or that information was deliberately and improperly withheld.

"But it does suggest that on some occasions, information related to foreign interference did not reach its intended recipient, while on others the information was not properly understood by those who received it," she wrote.

"These are serious issues that need to be investigated and considered."