What Budget 2023 tells us about foreign interference and bank risks

Foreign interference in Canada’s politics and banks is the target of new spending in Budget 2023 along with plans to give the country’s financial watchdog more powers.

The threat of foreign interference in Canada’s politics and banks is the target of new spending in Budget 2023 along with plans to give the country’s financial watchdog more powers to tackle emerging risks.

The dollar figures in Budget 2023 are relatively small – $48.9 million in cash for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police over three years to protect diaspora groups from intimidation and harassment, and $13.5 million over five years for Public Safety Canada to establish a “National Counter-Foreign Interference Office.

But the modest costs are a nod to what has become a major political issue for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, after months of reporting on alleged foreign interference – particularly from the Chinese government – in Canadian domestic affairs.

“Authoritarian regimes, such as Russia, China and Iran, believe they can act with impunity and meddle in the affairs of democracies – and democracies must act to defend ourselves,” the budget document, tabled by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland on Tuesday, read.

“No one in Canada should ever be threatened by foreign actors, and Canadian businesses and Canada’s public institutions must be free of foreign interference.”

According to the budget documents, the RCMP funding is being earmarked to boost the force’s ability to investigate foreign interference, and to “proactively engage” with diaspora communities at greater risk of being targeted by foreign powers.

“Foreign interference” can include a broad range of activities – including outright intimidation, aiding candidates perceived to be sympathetic to foreign powers, or pushing narratives through friendly media outlets.

But after months of reporting from Global News and other media outlets, more attention is being paid to the impact of foreign interference on Canadian politics and on diaspora communities in Canada – which national security observers suggest are the primary targets of attempts of intimidation and harassment by foreign powers.