Federal parties aligning on need for speed with anti-foreign meddling bill
CBC
A week of political debate over a shocking report alleging that some parliamentarians aided foreign meddling in Canadian politics has solidified one point of consensus: the need to pass an anti-foreign meddling bill before the next federal election.
Bill C-70, dubbed the "Countering Foreign Interference Act," was introduced in early May and is currently under consideration by a parliamentary committee on public safety and national security.
Late last month, the Conservative opposition offered to help pass the bill swiftly so that its measures are in place before the next federal election.
"Conservatives will work in good faith to ensure the rapid progress of Bill C-70 through the House while ensuring sufficient scrutiny of the bill's measures," Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong said in a letter at the time.
In an interview on Rosemary Barton Live that aired Sunday, NDP MP Jenny Kwan — who says CSIS has told her she has been targeted by the Chinese government — said some amendments to the bill would be introduced, but that it did need to be in place before the next election.
"That process will unfold, but absolutely this law needs to be in place before the next election," Kwan told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton.
The Bloc Québécois also told CBC News it would be putting forward some amendments to the legislation. The bill was unanimously sent forward to committee consideration late last month.
Bill C-70 would introduce new criminal provisions against deceptive or surreptitious acts, allow for the broader sharing of sensitive information and establish a foreign influence transparency registry.
The bill recognizes that states might engage in interference to advance foreign political goals, and can employ people to act on their behalf without disclosing ties to the foreign state.
The transparency registry would require certain individuals to register with the federal government to help guard against such activity.
The government has said it will look to pass the bill swiftly.
When it comes to the elements of the bill that are within the government's control, Public Safety Minister LeBlanc said while appearing at a parliamentary committee for public safety hearing Thursday that "we will ensure that they're in place" for the next election.
"We can't control the Senate process but we'll do everything in a power to make sure legislation of this nature is prioritized," Justice Minister Virani said during the same committee meeting.
While parties have so far agreed to move the bill quickly through the legislative process, some groups have expressed concerns about the contents of the bill and the accelerated process.
With the B.C. NDP and B.C. Conservatives neck and neck heading into election day on Saturday, there are also a record number of Independent candidates who — if voted in — could hold the balance of power in a minority government scenario. British Columbians have only elected one Independent MLA in the last 60 years. Vicki Huntington won a seat in 2009 and was re-elected in 2013. But University of the Fraser Valley political scientist Hamish Telford said the situation could be different this election cycle. Of the 40 Independent candidates running, six of them are incumbent MLAs, who carry the benefit of name recognition in their community. "So we've got Independents in this election who I think we could deem to be viable shots at actually winning a riding, which is not normal," Telford said. "They're still long shots, but they are certainly plausible candidates."
Though Bill C-282 has received cross-party federal support in Ottawa, Alberta's provincial government says it's not a backer of the Bloc Québécois legislation that aims to prevent Canada's supply-managed sectors — dairy, poultry and eggs — from being included in future international trade negotiations.
A former Canadian Olympic snowboarder and 15 others are facing criminal charges for allegedly running a drug-trafficking operation that shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia to Canada and used violence — including murder — to achieve the group's goals, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday.