Federal government tables bill to create foreign agent registry

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OTTAWA — The federal government tabled a bill on Monday to implement a package of reforms to better combat foreign interference, including the much-awaited foreign agent registry and changes to legislation surrounding Canada’s spy agency.

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc introduced An Act Respecting Countering Foreign Interference. The bill was put on the House of Commons’ notice paper in the hours following Justice Marie-Josée Hogue’s interim report on foreign interference.

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LeBlanc said last week that the foreign agent registry would be “coming soon” and that the government would announce a “broader review of the CSIS Act” as part of its “ongoing effort to strengthen legislation with respect to foreign interference.”

The proposed legislation amends the CSIS Act, the Security of Information Act, the Canada Evidence Act and the Criminal Code to create new offences related to foreign interference, such as engaging in deceptive conduct at the direction of a foreign entity with the intent of influencing “the exercise of a democratic right in Canada.”

It also enacts the Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act, which would see the appointment of a new commissioner to establish and oversee a publicly accessible registry of the political and governmental lobbying happening in relation to foreign states.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau committed to bringing in such a registry more than a year ago, after months of media leaks from Global News and the Globe and Mail detailing the extent of China’s attempts to meddle in Canadian affairs.

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In April 2023, former Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said it was “urgent” to fix the gaps in Canada’s foreign interference defences before the next election.

The United States has had a foreign agent registry since 1938, whereas Australia implemented its own system in 2018. The United Kingdom passed its new national security bill last year, but many aspects of the law are expected to come into effect in 2024.

Last year, former clerk of the Privy Council’s Office Michael Wernick urged MPs to “go to Google, get the U.K. National Security Bill… and copy and paste it and bring it to Canada,” adding that the legislation could probably be adopted before the end of the year.

Since then, Mendicino was booted out of cabinet with LeBlanc taking up his job, and he was busy negotiating a path forward for a public inquiry with opposition parties. The Hogue commission is now underway, with a final report expected before the end of 2024.

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It is not the first time that MPs have attempted to implement a foreign agent registry.

Former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu tabled a bill in the last Parliament to create a registry to ensure more transparency about attempts at political lobbying in Canada by foreign states, but he was targeted by falsehoods that led to him losing his seat in 2021.

Chinese-language news outlets and social media massaging falsely claimed that Chiu’s bill would force any individual or group with ties to China to register as foreign agents and accused Chiu of being racist and fostering an “anti-China” sentiment.

Hogue’s interim report, released on Friday, revealed that some of the news outlets had been identified by intelligence agencies as having close links to the Chinese government or Chinese state media.

Chiu told the commission that some of his Chinese constituents who had supported him in 2019 would not speak to him anymore and shut the door in his face. He also said that Chinese volunteers stopped coming forward to help with his campaign.

Also on Monday, Liberal MP Sukh Dhaliwal presented a private member’s motion in political interference, violence or intimidation on Canadian soil in relation to the murder of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was a resident of his riding in British Columbia.

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“It is crucial that we come together to condemn this heinous crime, support the grieving family and stand up for the principles of rule of law,” said Dhaliwal.

On Friday police in B.C. announced they had arrested three Indian nationals living in Edmonton and charged them with Nijjar’s murder. They also said they are investigating if the Indian government was involved, an allegation raised by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the House of Commons last year.

Dhaliwal’s motion asks that the House of Commons recognize that “recent events, including the credible allegations of a link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen… are examples of rising forms of intimidation, threats and interference from countries such as India, China, Russia, Iran and others.”

It also calls on the federal government to “immediately review its measures that hold to account any person or agents of a foreign state undermining democratic institutions, engaging in acts of violence, or violating human or international rights, in order to bar these persons from entering Canada.”

Until now, all parties indicated they would support the motion, which will be subject to a vote in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

National Post
calevesque@postmedia.com

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