Two years and one general election later, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree says the long-awaited foreign influence registry is “weeks” away from being operational. Yet, as his department is confident it is “very close to the finish line” after repeated missed deadlines and delays, critics say combatting foreign interference and transnational repression is “clearly not a priority” for the current Liberal government.
During a press conference in the West Block foyer on June 17, NDP MP Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, B.C.), her party’s public safety and national security critic, also criticized Anandasangaree for repeatedly failing to deliver on his previously promised timelines.
NDP MP Jenny Kwan says continued delays are signaling it is ‘open season’ in Canada for malign foreign actors. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Kwan said Prime Minister Mark Carney (Nepean, Ont.) has “dropped the ball,” but that “Canadians are still subject to foreign interference attacks” from countries like China, Russia, and India, and, in the case of the upcoming referendum on Alberta separatism, from the United States, as well.
In an interview with CBC’s The House in early May, Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) director Dan Rogers said that the referendum “is rife for amplification or for the sort of disinformation or foreign interference that we’ve seen from players like Russia in the past.”
A May 6 report authored by DisinfoWatch, the Canadian Digital Media Research Network, and CASiLabs also warned that Russian and pro-Trump U.S. actors are amplifying and spreading disinformation to “normalize” Alberta separatism, “amplify distrust, portray Canada as internally divided and politically unstable, and create uncertainty that could deter international investment.”
“This cannot be acceptable,” Kwan said, adding that, to protect Canada’s sovereignty, “our democratic institutions and our democratic rights need to be protected from foreign interference actors.”
In a follow-up interview, Kwan said that despite the concerns raised by CSIS and diaspora communities under direct threat from transnational repression and interference, she believes that Carney has been “slow walking” the registry.
Now, she said, alongside her suspicion that the delay is intended to avoid upsetting trade negotiations with China or India, she has to question whether the same considerations are being applied to the Americans.
Whatever the reason for the delay, Kwan said the excuses have not diminished the threats Canadians or the country’s democratic institutions face, but are instead sending “a clear message to foreign interference actors that Canada is open season.”
“Alberta’s voter list has already been compromised,” Kwan said. “Is that not serious enough for the Carney government to take this seriously and get a move on?”
“This was the will of the previous Parliament, and Carney talked about how important this is during the campaign, but afterwards, he’s forgotten all about it,” Kwan said. “It clearly is not a priority.”
In response to questions from The Hill Times, Anandasangaree’s office said the final regulations “should be gazetted soon,” and that the registry “will be up and running later this summer.”
