QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Public Safety
Foreign Interference
April 21, 2026
Minister, welcome to the Senate.
The government has correctly placed a lot of attention on foreign interference in recent years, focusing on state-sponsored foreign interference.
In fact, the Foreign Interference Commission looked at state‑sponsored foreign interference but totally ignored non-state actors.
I wonder what your view is on the threat to Canada from non‑state foreign interference, including media, private companies, foundations, charities, non-governmental organizations, political parties and tycoons.
Thank you, senator. When we look at foreign interference, it’s in a holistic sense. Certainly, interference by foreign-state actors appears to be the primary source of many of the challenges that we have seen over the last number of years and that we continue to see in some cases.
I would say that regardless if it’s individuals involved or due to other entities or organizations, oftentimes they are proxies of foreign states, so they are not independent of the foreign state they may be representing or whose position they may be espousing in Canada.
We have some mechanisms. The Investment Canada Act is an example of a tool that exists currently for foreign interference to ensure that those transactions that are subject to the Investment Canada Act go through national security screening before they’re finalized. As you may be aware, Mr. Anton Boegman has been appointed as the commissioner, and we are finalizing the current regulations. He is already working, and his office will be operational very soon.
It’s not clear that some of the non-state actors are proxies. We’re talking about foundations, corporations, tycoons and so on. I’m glad you mentioned the foreign influence transparency registry because that registry specifically excludes non-state actors from registration. Do you see that as a major lacuna in the legislation? Would you be willing to amend that problem?
Senator Woo, what I would like to see is the foreign influence transparency registry up and running, compliance being undertaken and the commissioner being able to educate and do his job. I think it’s premature for us to discuss amendments, but certainly on an ongoing basis, we should continue to scrutinize and look at the work that the registrar and the registry are doing.
