Premiers kept in the dark on foreign interference concerns, says memo
Chinese agents attempted to infiltrate a provincial leadership race in 2022, and Canada’s premiers were left in the dark, according to a classified CSIS memo dated October 31, 2022.
Conversations between one premier and the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) revealed provincial governments were kept in the dark on foreign interference concerning their jurisdiction. British Columbia Premier David Eby asked for security checks on provincial candidates including members of his own New Democratic Party, records show.
“Premier Eby met with the Prime Minister’s National Security Advisor and raised the topics of foreign interference,” said an internal memo. “Premier Eby asked if there was a mechanism for B.C. political parties to ‘check’ names with federal national security authorities for covert ties to foreign states or significant organized crime links.”
Eby raised three issues on foreign interference at the time, including whether he would be notified if any of his nominees or candidates had undue contact with foreign states. He also asked to be notified if a foreign state interfered in a provincial election, and the process of informing opposition leaders if any such event occurred during an election.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith earlier told Rebel News she has not received any information on foreign meddling. “They're not allowed to tell me what it might be about,” she said.
Smith asked CSIS if Alberta was a target during a security briefing earlier this year. “The answer was no, which I find quite surprising,” the premier said. She previously advocated legislative changes to permit premiers access to classified intelligence concerning their jurisdiction.
Chinese agents attempted to infiltrate a provincial leadership race in 2022, and Canada’s premiers were left in the dark, according to a classified CSIS memo dated October 31, 2022.
A democratically elected politician vying for the leadership of their provincial party, only identified as “CA3,” was to meet Chinese officials at a Chinese Consulate in 2022, as first reported by The Bureau.
Only the B.C. NDP and Alberta United Conservatives selected leaders in the June to October 2022 time frame described by the Intelligence Assessment. Canada hosts four Chinese Consulates, in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal.
“It’s unclear what authority the B.C. Premier has to request or be in receipt of this information,” said the memo, Responses To Issues Raised By British Columbia Premier Eby During Meeting With National Security And Intelligence Advisor. “Canadian political party candidates and nominees are accorded the same rights as all Canadians including freedom of assembly and rights against unreasonable search and seizure.”
“That said, in the context of fulfilling their mandates it is possible that federal security and intelligence agencies uncover information regarding foreign influenced activities and provincial politicians,” reads the undated memo.
Witnesses with the Privy Council Office (PCO) confirmed Thursday the memo was genuine, reported Blacklock’s Reporter. None recalled the meeting with Eby, but references in the three-page document claimed the meeting occurred sometime in the past year.
“In such instances one possible threat reduction measure might be informing the party leadership,” said National Security And Intelligence Advisor. “Federally we need a better understanding of what processes are currently in place in British Columbia [and Alberta] to mitigate the threat of foreign interference.”
British Columbia voters go to the polls October 19. “Premier Eby requested that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service work with Elections B.C. to ensure the provincial Elections Act is robust on foreign interference,” said the memo. “B.C. could consider establishing its own election security architecture or monitoring.”
“The UCP has stringent procedures,” wrote United Conservative spokesperson Dave Prisco in an earlier emailed statement. “Our verification and voting processes during the leadership contest were overseen by third-party auditors, and scrutineers, and were streamed live on a publicly available webcam 24/7,” he clarified.
The Commission Thursday was told data sought by Premier Eby would be disclosed in part under Bill C-70, An Act Respecting Countering Foreign Interference. The bill mandates the public naming of any person lobbying on behalf of any “foreign principal” under threat of five years’ imprisonment and a $5 million fine. The bill defines foreign principals as any “foreign economic entity, foreign entity, foreign power or foreign state.”
Parliament passed the bill into law June 19. However full enforcement including publication of a keyword-searchable database may take a year, says the Department of Public Safety.
“We do recognize there is significant interest in making sure it is up and running before the next federal election,” Richard Bilodeau, director general with the public safety department, testified May 20 at the Commons public safety committee. “It is going to be a priority for us to set it up. There are numerous pieces of work that need to be done.”
“It may in fact take up to a year, am I correct?” asked Conservative MP Michael Cooper. “It could take up to a year,” replied Bilodeau.
Alex Dhaliwal
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Alex Dhaliwal is a Political Science graduate from the University of Calgary. He has actively written on relevant Canadian issues with several prominent interviews under his belt.
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