Parliamentary Committee Notes: Opening Remarks
Speaking Notes for The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs
Appearance Before the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security
June 6, 2024
Good morning.
Thank you Mr. Chair for inviting me to speak today on Bill C-70, a vital part of our Government’s efforts to counter foreign interference.
We can all agree that the government has no obligation that is more important than the protection of its people.
Like us, Canadians are aware of and rightly concerned about the pervasiveness and increasing complexity of foreign interference.
They also know that foreign interference poses a real and serious threat to our country, our democratic processes, and our institutions.
State actors seek to exploit Canada’s vulnerabilities by targeting governments at all levels, our open academic systems, private enterprises, and even communities and individuals.
And we must close those vulnerabilities in the face of ever-increasing and ever more complex threats.
It is clear that, in order to counter foreign interference, a whole of government and society response is required.
This includes engaging directly with those affected on potential solutions and is why the Government of Canada:
- Engages with private companies, researchers and the health sector to inform them of the threats and to help them better understand how to protect their work;
- Provides mechanisms for public reporting through various websites and national security threat phone lines;
- Engages with communities at risk in Canada to help them better protect themselves against foreign threats;
- Helps critical infrastructure operators defend critical cyber security systems that Canadians rely on;
- Coordinates and shares information with Five Eyes, and other allies, such as G7 and NATO on foreign interference and other threats; and
- Enhances collective resilience to disinformation by helping Canadians and individuals in Canada to become better informed about disinformation tactics and actors, and by enhancing transparency.
Based on what we heard through the robust and diverse consultation process, we introduced Bill C-70, An Act respecting countering foreign interference on May 6, 2024.
In order bolster our ability to detect and disrupt foreign interference threats, and protect Canadian institutions and all persons in Canada, Bill C-70 proposes important and necessary amendments to modernize the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act, the Security of Information Act, the Criminal Code and the Canada Evidence Act.
Moreover, Bill C-70 introduces the Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act, designed to increase transparency by creating a Foreign Influence Transparency Registry for individuals and entities acting on behalf of foreign principals seeking to influence activities within our political and governmental processes.
All individuals or entities who enter into an arrangement with a foreign principal – and who undertake activities to influence a government or political process in Canada – would be required to publicly register these activities.
To be clear, the registry creates a positive registration obligation for individuals or entities who are in a foreign influence arrangement with a foreign principal.
Individuals and entities would be required to show more transparency about their connections to foreign states and support Canada's national security objectives.
The goal of the registry would be to promote transparency from all people who advocate on behalf of a foreign state or entity, as well as foster accountability from those who would seek to do so in non-transparent and/or clandestine ways.
However, we also recognize that the Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act is by no means a single solution to foreign interference.
That is why Bill C-70 also introduces measures and tools to help our law enforcement and intelligence agencies detect, deter, and decrease threats of foreign interference at their early stages while being mindful of the privacy of Canadians.
The Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act would build on the government’s ongoing and longstanding efforts to protect Canada against the threat of foreign interference.
Mr. Chair, I can assure the committee that the government will continue our work with all our partners, including other jurisdictions in Canada, affected communities, academia and civil society to address foreign interference together.
We will always stand up for the safety and protection of Canadians, their institutions, and their democracy.
Thank you.
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