QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Public Safety
Foreign Interference
September 19, 2024
Minister, welcome. Today’s indictment by the United States Department of Justice, which relates to the Kremlin’s funding of a U.S. company with approximately $10 million from Russia to manipulate Canadian and U.S. information spaces, notes that the founders of the company were two Canadians. They used these funds to pay Canadian entities to promote Russian disinformation and interfere in our democratic processes.
Will there be fulsome investigations of those in Canada who received this Russian money for these purposes, and, if so, has this investigation begun?
Your Honour, I thank Senator Kutcher for the question. I share the concern of many — I would hope all — Canadians about this clear example of disinformation being used as a foreign interference tool by the Russian government.
They, as you correctly noted, transferred these funds allegedly through a number of different shell companies, specifically to promote certain extreme right-wing views on social media sites.
I want to be careful. I took a call from the United States Attorney General Merrick Garland to thank Canada for the work that we had done with the American Department of Justice on this very issue. We talked about what more work we can do together around disinformation and foreign interference in the electoral processes.
In terms of which investigations, senator, are under way by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or RCMP, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, or CSIS, or others, I want to be careful not to speak to specific investigations. The RCMP is in the best position to do that or to confirm whether or not there are investigations. I want to be clear that I’m not doing that. Those questions can be answered by law enforcement authorities.
But I can reassure all of you, through you, Senator Kutcher, that we will continue to support the law enforcement agencies in this important work, including our partners in the Five Eyes and the United States.
Canada has placed Putin’s personal think tank, the Valdai Discussion Club, and the Russian International Affairs Council on our sanctions list in September of 2023. It is alleged that some Canadians may have collaborated with these disinformation-driving organizations. Will the Canadian government ask that the foreign influence inquiry investigate Russian information and influence operating and targeting our democracy and society including activities associated with these two sanctioned organizations?
Senator Kutcher, again, you ask a very important question. You have highlighted the role that Russia has played not only in our democracy but around the world. It is one of the foremost actors — CSIS and others have said so publicly — in this disinformation space, seeking to destabilize Western democracies. We’re not immune from that.
The foreign interference inquiry, as senators will know, is an independent inquiry. The government doesn’t direct them other than in the terms of reference which were negotiated with every political party in the House of Commons. The good news is I participated in that process, and I am confident that the terms of reference for the public inquiry would contemplate exactly the use of disinformation by hostile state actors, like Russia. I have every confidence that Justice Hogue will follow the evidence and look forward to her report at the end of December.
