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.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Rookie Wyatt Langford homered, doubled twice and became the first Texas player this season to reach base five times, struggling Jonah Heim delivered a two-run single to break a sixth-inning tie and the Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 13-8 on Tuesday night.
Leody Taveras also had a homer among his three hits for the Rangers.
Langford, who also walked twice, has 12 homers and 25 doubles this season. He is hitting .345 in September.
“I think it’s really important to finish on a strong note,” Langford said. “I’m just going to keep trying to do that.”
Heim was 1-for-34 in September before he lined a single to right field off Tommy Nance (0-2) to score Adolis García and Nathaniel Lowe, giving Texas a 9-7 lead. Heim went to the plate hitting .212 with 53 RBIs after being voted an All-Star starter last season with a career-best 95 RBIs. He added a double in the eighth ahead of Taveras’ homer during a three-run inning.
Texas had 13 hits and left 13 men on. It was the Rangers’ highest-scoring game since a 15-8 win at Oakland on May 7.
Matt Festa (5-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win, giving him a 5-0 record in 13 appearances with the Rangers after being granted free agency by the New York Mets on July 7.
Nathan Eovaldi, a star of Texas’ 2023 run to the franchise’s first World Series championship, had his worst start of the year in what could have been his final home start with the Rangers. Eovaldi, who will be a free agent next season, allowed 11 hits (the most of his two seasons with Texas) and seven runs (tied for the most).
“I felt like early in the game they just had a few hits that found the holes, a few first-pitch base hits,” said Eovaldi, who is vested for a $20 million player option with Texas for 2025. “I think at the end of the day I just need to do a better job of executing my pitches.”
Eovaldi took a 7-3 lead into the fifth inning after the Rangers scored five unearned runs in the fourth. The Jays then scored four runs to knock out Eovaldi after 4 2/3 innings.
Six of the seven runs scored against Toronto starter Chris Bassitt in 3 2/3 innings were unearned. Bassitt had a throwing error during Texas’ two-run third inning.
“We didn’t help ourselves defensively, taking care of the ball to secure some outs,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.
The Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a double and two singles, his most hits in a game since having four on Sept. 3. Guerrero is hitting .384 since the All-Star break.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette (calf) was activated and played for the first time since July 19, going 2 for 5 with an RBI. … OF Daulton Varsho (shoulder) was placed on the 10-day injured list and will have rotator cuff surgery … INF Will Wagner (knee inflammation) was placed on the 60-day list.
UP NEXT
Rangers: LHP Chad Bradford (5-3, 3.97 ERA) will pitch Wednesday night’s game on extended five days’ rest after allowing career highs in hits (nine), runs (eight) and home runs (three) in 3 2/3 innings losing at Arizona on Sept. 14.
Blue Jays: RHP Bowden Francis (8-4, 3.50) has had two no-hitters get away in the ninth inning this season, including in his previous start against the New York Mets on Sept. 11. Francis is the first major-leaguer to have that happen since Rangers Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan in 1989.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Billie Jean King will become the first individual female athlete to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey announced Tuesday that their bipartisan legislation had passed the House of Representatives and would be sent to President Joe Biden for his signature.
The bill to honor King, the tennis Hall of Famer and activist, had already passed unanimously in the Senate.
Sherrill, a Democrat, said in a statement that King’s “lifetime of advocacy and hard work changed the landscape for women and girls on the court, in the classroom, and the workplace.”
The bill was introduced last September on the 50th anniversary of King’s victory over Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes,” still the most-watched tennis match of all-time. The medal, awarded by Congress for distinguished achievements and contributions to society, has previously been given to athletes including baseball players Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente, and golfers Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson and Arnold Palmer.
King had already been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Fitzpatrick, a Republican, says she has “broken barriers, led uncharted paths, and inspired countless people to stand proudly with courage and conviction in the fight for what is right.”
SURREY, B.C. – Premier David Eby says new account control measures for young Instagram users introduced Tuesday by social media giant Meta are the “minimum” expected of tech companies to keep kids safe online.
The parent company of Instagram says users in Canada and elsewhere under 18 will have their accounts set to private by default starting Tuesday, restricting who can send messages, among other parental controls and settings.
Speaking at an unrelated event Tuesday, Eby says the province began talks with social media companies after threatening legislation that would put big tech companies on the hook for “significant potential damages” if they were found negligent in failing to keep kids safe from online predators.
Eby says the case of Carson Cleland, a 12-year-old from Prince George, B.C., who took his own life last year after being targeted by a predator on Snapchat, was “horrific and totally preventable.”
He says social media apps are “nothing special,” and should be held to the same child safety standards as anyone who operates a place that invites young people, whether it’s an amusement park, a playground or an online platform.
In a progress report released Tuesday about the province’s engagement with big tech companies including Google, Meta, TikTok, Spapchat and X, formerly known as Twitter, the provincial government says the companies are implementing changes, including a “trusted flagger” option to quickly remove intimate images.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
