We’re still awaiting the actual report, but the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) has released some high-level findings about foreign interference in Canada.
1. Foreign interference pose a “significant and growing threat to the rights and freedoms of Canadians and to Canada’s sovereignty.”
2. While the intelligence community have taken “measures to address specific incidents of foreign interference,” “Canada has been slow to react to the threat.”
3. NSICOP is recommending the government develop “a comprehensive strategy to counter foreign interference and build institutional and public resiliency.”
4. The committee also recommends that “sustained central leadership” — unclear what that would mean — is needed to counter foreign interference.
More to come once the actual report is released.
NSICOP specifically names China and Russia as countries that attempt to interfere in Canada’s domestic affairs. Other countries were included in the classified report, but were censored from the public release.
The report states foreign espionage targets Canada’s electoral system “at all stages.”
(Note: NSICOP did not include the 2019 election in their review, which examined materials from Jan. 2015 to Aug. 31, 2018)
NSICOP’s conclusion about the threat: “there is ample evidence ... that Canada is the target of significant and sustained foreign interference activities ... (the activities) target ethnocultural communities, seek to corrupt the political process, manipulate the media ...”
