RCMP not investigating 2021 election meddling allegations, MPs told
CBC
While multiple media reports have detailed allegations of foreign interference, including attempts to co-opt candidates, the top bureaucrat at the Department of Public Safety said Wednesday there are no active RCMP investigations underway into the last election.
"I can confirm that the RCMP is not investigating any of allegations that are arising from the last election," Shawn Tupper, deputy minister at the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, told a committee of MPs studying foreign election inference.
Jody Thomas, the prime minister's national security adviser, told MPs on the procedure and House affairs committee that she and other officials have routinely briefed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about election interference by China — she called Beijing the "greatest threat" — and other bad actors like Russia and Iran.
Thomas said there were foreign interference "attempts" in 2019 and 2021.
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She declined to provide specifics about the interference, saying it would be inappropriate in light of strict national security laws that require secrecy.
"The unlawful sharing of information and inappropriate sharing of information, I believe, jeopardizes our national security. It jeopardizes institutions and puts people at unnecessary risk and it's very concerning," Thomas told MPs.
While there are no pending criminal investigations, Thomas did say that the federal government is "taking concrete steps to strengthen our counter-foreign interference approach, including by making sure that those who engage in such activities face consequences."
The absence of an active criminal probe does not mean there wasn't serious misconduct by China or other foreign actors in the last two federal campaigns.
National security experts have said it's difficult to use intelligence gathered by agencies like CSIS in the course of a criminal matter. The standards in a court of law are different from the standards used in the gathering of intelligence.
Conservative MPs on the House affairs committee raised concerns about the absence of criminal charges for foreign interference. They suggested the lack of such charges leaves the impression that nefarious actors can operate with impunity.
Adam Fisher, director general of intelligence assessments at CSIS, said this is an issue that may require a legislative fix.
Tara Denham is a member of the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force (SITE), a body set up to monitor elections interference.
She told MPs that the task force was aware that anti-Conservative messages were widely distributed on WeChat, a Chinese social media app, during the last election.