Canada’s main spy agency has accused India and Pakistan of trying to meddle in the country’s last two general elections.
The reports made public last week were presented as part of a federal commission of inquiry investigating interference by foreign nations, including China and Russia, in the 2019 and 2021 national votes.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) said India’s government tried to interfere in the 2019 and 2021 elections using “clandestine activities” targeting certain electoral districts in the country and select politicians.
The CSIS in a separate document accused Islamabad of covertly trying to influence politics at the federal level before the 2019 elections to advance Pakistani interests.
It is rare for governments to level allegations against other sovereign nations – and Canada traditionally has viewed both India and Pakistan as partners. But the accusations were levelled amid mounting tensions between Canada and India and a broader worry within Canada that foreign actors have been trying to shape its electoral outcomes.
Here are the details of what the CSIS alleged – and the implications.
What are the allegations against India?
According to the CSIS documents, reviewed by Al Jazeera, “proxy agents” of the Indian government tried to influence the 2019 and 2021 elections with the aim to “align Canada’s positions with India’s interests on key issues, particularly with respect to how the Gol [government of India] perceives Canada-based supporters of an independent Sikh homeland that they refer to as Khalistan”.
This, the CSIS report alleged, was done “through the clandestine provision of illicit financial support to various Canadian politicians as a means of attempting to secure the election of pro-Gol candidates or gaining influence over candidates who take office”.
“In some instances, the candidates may never know their campaigns received illicit funds,” the report said.
According to the documents, India’s influence campaign focused on a “small number of electoral districts” that are home to Indo-Canadian communities that New Delhi views as supportive of the Khalistani separatist cause.
The CSIS alleged that India deliberately relies on “Canadian and Canada-based proxies and the contacts in their networks” for its operations because this “obfuscates any explicit link” between New Delhi and its influence efforts in Canada.
“Proxies liaise and work with Indian intelligence officials in India and Canada, taking both explicit and implicit direction from them,” the report said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, accused Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in June of involvement in the killing of a Canadian Sikh leader near Vancouver [File: Evan Vucci/Pool/AFP]
How has India responded?
When news reports first emerged in February suggesting that Canada was investigating Indian electoral interference, New Delhi was quick to respond, describing the allegations as “baseless”.
“It is not Government of India’s policy to interfere in democratic processes of other countries,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs said.
“In fact, quite on the reverse, it is Canada which has been interfering in our internal affairs. We have been raising this issue regularly with them. We continue to call on Canada to take effective measures to address our core concerns.”
India-Canada relations took a hit last year after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of being involved in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist leader who was shot dead in June near Vancouver.
The latest allegations are likely to only complicate ties further, especially as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gears up for a national vote that begins this month and could bring him back to power for a third time, said Reeta Tremblay, political scientist and emeritus professor at the University of Victoria.
Tremblay referred to comments by India’s foreign minister, S Jaishankar, that while strained ties were not in the interest of either Ottawa or New Delhi, “territorial integrity and the diasporic Khalistan separatism are core issues for India, and that it is Canada which is interfering in India’s domestic politics rather the other way around”.
Based on the 2021 census, Canada is home to 1.4 million people of Indian ethic or cultural origin.
What are the allegations against Pakistan?
The CSIS said Pakistan’s foreign interference in Canada was “primarily to promote political, security and economic stability in Pakistan and to counter India’s growing global influence”.
According to the assessment, Islamabad was a “limited foreign interference actor” in the 2019 and 2021 elections.
“Government of Pakistan foreign interference activities abroad are influenced by its turbulent domestic political, economic and security situation, as well as its longstanding tensions with neighbouring India,” the report said.
The summary said previous interference activities by Pakistan included efforts to “clandestinely affect the selection of and increase support for politicians and candidates who are perceived to be more pro-Pakistan or anti-India”.
Pakistan has not yet responded to the allegations made by the CSIS.
Unlike with India, Tremblay said she does not expect the allegations to affect Canada-Pakistan ties much. “Although Canada and Pakistan enjoy a good but limited economic relationship, Canada has not hesitated to weigh in on the recent elections in Pakistan, condemning incidents of electoral violence and attacks on democracy,” she said.
At the same time, the allegations by the CSIS could undermine Pakistan’s ability to portray India as guilty of overseas influence operations without drawing attention to Islamabad too and could reinforce New Delhi’s allegations of Pakistani support for the Khalistani cause, Tremblay said.
China’s interference in Canadian elections
A big part of the ongoing inquiry is to deduce the role and extent of Beijing’s alleged role in influencing recent Canadian elections.
Canada’s foreign intelligence agency concluded that China interfered in the last two elections, according to the official probe.
Trudeau’s Liberal Party won the elections held in 2019 and 2021.
“We know that the PRC [Peoples’ Republic of China] clandestinely and deceptively interfered in both the 2019 and 2021 elections,” the CSIS said.
“In both cases, these FI [foreign interference] activities were pragmatic in nature and focused primarily on supporting those viewed to be either ‘pro-PRC’ or ‘neutral’ on issues of interest to the PRC government.”
China denies it interferes in Canadian politics.
The CSIS said outside state actors were able to conduct foreign interference due to “few legal and political consequences”.
“Foreign interference is therefore low-risk and high-reward,” the CSIS assessment said.
Trudeau, who has been accused of not doing enough to counter foreign interference in Canada’s elections, is expected to testify as part of the inquiry on Wednesday.
“We have known for many, many years that many different countries take an interest in engaging in Canadian institutions and sometimes influencing, sometimes interfering in the work of Canadian institutions,” he told reporters on Friday.
“I can assure people that we will continue to do everything necessary to prevent interference from whatever country it comes from.”
The China-Canada relationship has been tense for the past several years, especially after 2018 when Canadian authorities detained Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou on a United States arrest warrant.
What does all of this mean for Canada?
Tremblay said the reports suggested that Canada needs to do a better job of coordinating key agencies, including the CSIS, the Royal Mounted Police, the bureaucracy and election authorities.
Also, she said, it needs to “better manage its own diaspora and understand the vulnerability of this community with its family ties back home”. By 2041, half of the Canadian population is expected to consist of immigrants or the children of immigrants.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
