MPs ask CSIS to help them spot foreign interference

Some members of Parliament say they have no idea how to spot foreign interference, as Canada's spy agency warns that all elected officials are targets for hostile states.

Some members of Parliament say they have no idea how to spot foreign interference, as Canada's spy agency warns that all elected officials are targets for hostile states.

"There is not clarity, quite frankly, around what MPs and their parties can do to protect themselves," NDP MP Rachel Blaney told CSIS officials on Feb. 9.

She was speaking during the House procedure committee's hearings on foreign interference, which is studying allegations of attempts by China to meddle in the 2019 federal election.

The MPs heard from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service about efforts to safeguard against foreign states trying to improperly influence elected representatives and candidates for office.

"All levels of government are susceptible and targeted by foreign-interference actors," CSIS assistant director Cherie Henderson testified.

"That's provincial, federal and municipal -- all electoral candidates are."

Henderson added that CSIS must "educate all Canadians, including MPs, in regards to the potential threat that they face from foreign-interference actors."