Former parliamentarian worked on behalf of foreign government to influence Parliament: CSIS

A foreign government tried to get a Liberal candidate defeated and a former parliamentarian is suspected of having worked to influence parliamentary business on behalf of a foreign government, the public inquiry into interference in Canadian politics was told Friday.

Officials from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) unveiled two new examples of such foreign interference, in addition to four examples that had been released publicly.

Officials did not name the countries suspected in the newest examples of foreign interference, or the parliamentarians involved.

CSIS said the list it compiled for the inquiry in July cited seven examples of foreign interference in Canadian politics. The agency said information that subsequently came to light led it to reassess one case involving an MP and drop it from the list.

"CSIS continues to view this as a suspected instance of foreign interference as it demonstrated a foreign government attempting to build, maintain or leverage relationships with parliamentarians using clandestine, deceptive or threatening tactics as defined in the CSIS Act," CSIS said in a brief submitted to the inquiry.

CSIS officials said China is the country most actively trying to interfere in Canada's affairs, followed by India. They also warned that the conflict in the Middle East could lead Iran to interfere in the next federal election.

Friday's testimony came after the inquiry asked CSIS to compile a list of all known examples of foreign interference in Canadian politics. In addition to the two new cases, the list includes:

• The government of Pakistan attempting to "clandestinely influence Canadian federal politics" to advance its interests in Canada.
• Foreign interference that resulted in a briefing to security-cleared representatives of the Liberal Party of Canada shortly before the 2021 election, and to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shortly after.
• A foreign government actively supporting a candidate in a 2019 Liberal nomination race in Don Valley North. Earlier in its hearings, the inquiry heard testimony stating that the Chinese consulate in Toronto arranged for busloads of students to vote for Liberal nomination candidate Han Dong in that riding.
• The government of India being suspected of using proxy agents to — according to a CSIS document tabled at the inquiry — "clandestinely provide financial support to specific candidates from three political parties in a federal election. The receipt of funds cannot be confirmed, nor the candidates' potential awareness of the origins."

While Russia has not targeted Canada as much as it has some other countries, its war with Ukraine could prompt it to meddle in the next federal election, CSIS officials warned. Former CSIS director David Vigneault acknowledged Russian misinformation techniques have had an impact in Canada.

Pakistan engages in foreign interference in Canada — largely to support the Khalistan movement — while Iran's foreign interference is largely focused on the Iranian diaspora in Canada and Iranian dissidents, CSIS officials told the inquiry.

Officials also warned that India has been buying Pegasus spyware — technology that Vigneault described as pernicious and very effective.

Vigneault also discussed the emergence of "cognitive warfare" — new techniques designed to shift the way a population thinks about an issue. For example, he said, China has been using it against Taiwan to send the message that the island's annexation by China is inevitable.

CSIS officials also called into question some of the conclusions of the bombshell report on foreign interference by the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP), made public in June. They cited instances where they said the report cited the wrong country, or got its facts wrong.

CSIS officials also offered glimpses of foreign interference activities that were not directed at politics. When asked whether any Canadians had been returned to China as a result of China's Fox Hunt and Sky Net campaigns to repatriate people charged with crimes in China, former CSIS official Cherie Henderson said she was aware of one or two cases but would have to check back with her agency.

Friday's testimony also foreshadowed questions likely to come up in future testimony — such as why a CSIS request for then-Public Safety Minister Bill Blair to approve a warrant sat in his office for weeks. While news reports have suggested the target of the warrant was Michael Chan, CSIS officials did not confirm that the former Ontario MLA was the target.

The foreign interference inquiry, headed by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, was launched following media reports accusing China of interfering in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

In her initial report, made public in May, Hogue concluded that while it was possible that foreign interference occurred in a small number of ridings, it did not affect the overall election results.

The inquiry continues Tuesday with testimony from a panel on cultural community media and testimony from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)'s executive director of broadcasting.