LeBlanc unveils bill aimed at curbing foreign interference

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Dominic LeBlanc has tabled legislation he says will help the country address the threat of foreign interference.

It grants Canada’s spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, new abilities to disclose sensitive information to those beyond the federal government, including provinces and even individuals who are being targeted by foreign actors.

The proposed legislation also 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.

And it includes a long-awaited foreign agent registry with a new independent commissioner to oversee it.

It remains to be seen if that centrepiece measure can be in place by the next federal election.

LeBlanc, the New Brunswick MP who is also the Trudeau government’s public safety minister and responsible for the democratic institutions file, says the moves in Bill C-70 aim to “rebuild confidence” in Canadian institutions while bolstering “Canada’s ability to detect and disrupt foreign interference.”

“Canada is a strong, open, and free democracy,” LeBlanc said. “These strengths, however, can make Canada a target for those who wish to advance their interests to the detriment of our own.”

Pressure on Ottawa to act comes after allegations that China interfered in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections, which saw Trudeau’s Liberals defeat Andrew Scheer and Erin O’Toole’s Conservative party.

The Trudeau government eventually created the foreign interference commission last September amid mounting pressure to conduct a public inquiry.

That was after a string of reports into foreign meddling, including Chinese attempts to influence elections.

The inquiry has focused on what government officials knew and when.

In an interim report, public inquiry into foreign interference commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue said she does not believe any meddling undermined the integrity of the electoral system or affected an election’s outcome.

But she does believe that foreign interference has now undermined public confidence in Canadian democracy.

“While awareness and foreign interference may at one time have been largely within the domain of security and intelligence agencies and hidden from public view, the cat is now out of the proverbial bag,” Hogue wrote in her report. “The result has been to shake the confidence of Canadians in their electoral processes.”

LeBlanc said the legislation, spanning nearly 100 pages, aims to restore that confidence.

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.”

There’s also a sabotage offence aimed at conduct directed at essential infrastructure.

It then enacts the new Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act that 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.

The legislation says Ottawa will set administrative penalties for those who don’t sign up in regulations to be developed, while stating that certain offences under the law could include fines of $200,000 to $5 million.

Criminal penalties are also available, according to senior government officials who spoke with reporters in Ottawa on Monday.

Similar to a lobbyist registry, it requires those who get paid to advocate, in this instance for other countries, to publicly reveal those connections.

Officials said that those representing a foreign power, entity, or state​ must register if they’re activities include attempts to influence the development of policy, a program, or legislative proposal, the decision-making of a public office holder, the nomination of a political candidate, or​ an election or referendum​.

The move does not prohibit lobbying for foreign interests, nor does it ban or restrict any specific activities, but instead has the explicit purpose of promoting transparency.

That said, it does give police and intelligence authorities a new tool to crack down on those who don’t register and are found attempting to meddle with Canadian democracy.

A U.S. foreign agent registry has been in place since 1938, brought in at that time to counter Nazi propaganda, but has most recently been used to shut down what authorities called a “Chinese police station” in lower Manhattan.

Two American citizens were charged with failing to register their work on behalf of the People’s Republic of China.

Reports of so-called police stations, services set up in appearance to help Chinese citizens overseas with administrative issues such as renewing driving licences, are alleged to be used by Beijing to intimidate members of the local Chinese community in other countries.

There’s been reports of stations in Canada as well.

But exactly when the registry will be put in place remains unclear.

Officials said Monday it expects a year delay between passage of this bill and the establishment of the registry.

It means that if legislation can’t get passed by at least early fall, there’s little chance the registry will be in place before the next federal election that must happen on or before Oct. 20, 2025.

LeBlanc said he believes that’s still possible.

“We will be working expeditiously with the opposition parties and our colleagues in the Senate,” he said. “I’m not pessimistic that we can’t build a consensus around the importance of having this legislation in place as quickly as possible.”