Canada can take ‘lessons’ from Australia on registry for foreign interference: Trudeau

Australia’s public registry requires people advocating for a foreign state to register their activities, under penalty of fines or jail time.

The federal government can take “lessons” from Australia and other allies when it comes to creating Canada’s foreign agents registry, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says.

Many experts in recent weeks have cited Australia’s foreign registry as an prime example that Canada can follow for its own program.

Australia’s public registry requires people advocating for a foreign state to register their activities, under penalty of fines or jail time. The United States has a similar program.

Trudeau, who was in Newfoundland on Wednesday, told reporters that parliamentarians will “study various proposals” over the coming weeks. The government kicked off consultations for its “foreign influence transparency registry” last Friday.

“We’re going to continue to work as parliamentarians to study various proposals. There are lessons learned around what Australia and other countries have done around a foreign influence registry,” Trudeau said.

“It’s an important tool. It’s not a silver bullet that’s going to save everything, but I think it’s part of the toolbox that we need to look at, and that’s why the public safety minister is moving forward as we committed to delivering on a public and national foreign influence registry.”

Ottawa last week opened public consultations for a long-awaited foreign agents registry as the minister tasked with running them acknowledged that the challenge posed to the country by foreign interference is significant.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino told reporters in Ottawa that consultations will be held until May 9.