foreign interference: Latest News

Justin Trudeau to look into allegations of foreign interference in Canada, is resigning his position, Global News has confirmed via a senior government source and a copy of Johnston’s resignation letter.The former governor general has faced weeks of scrutiny over what the opposition parties called a conflict of interest due to his ties to Trudeau’s family and the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.The House of Commons last week passed a non-binding resolution calling for Johnston to step down over the “appearance of bias.”“When I undertook the task of Independent Special Rapporteur on Foreign Interference, my objective was to help build trust in our democratic institutions,” Johnston wrote in his resignation letter to Trudeau.“I have concluded that, given the highly partisan atmosphere around my appointment and work, my leadership has had the opposite effect.”Johnston said he will leave the role no later than the end of the month, but hopes to deliver a “brief” final report before that time.The resignation marks a sudden turn from Johnston’s commitment to stay on as special rapporteur in the wake of the House motion, which was brought by the NDP. At that time, Johnston said he would only take instructions on his work and his future from the Trudeau government, not Parliament.Trudeau has continued to stand by Johnston despite the opposition’s accusations of bias.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is defending his party’s decision not to include binding orders in its foreign interference motion, which called for David Johnston to step down as special rapporteur, and says an election does not “make sense” if the goal is protecting Canada’s democracy.Singh told The West Block’s Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired Sunday that he wants to get a better understanding of the full extent of allegations of foreign interference.“I want to see some steps being taken to safeguard our democracy instead of triggering an election because I’m worried about interference in our elections. To me, (it) sounds self-serving,” he said.“It’s something that Mr.

The federal NDP has tabled a motion calling for David Johnston to step aside as special rapporteur investigating foreign interference in Canadian affairs, leader Jagmeet Singh said Monday.

David Johnston says his decision to recommend against a public inquiry into foreign interference was based on “unprecedented” access to raw intelligence, Canadian national security officials and their political masters.

Chinese state-sponsored cyber threat actor is performing discrete espionage operations within critical U.S. infrastructure and may target other nations, Western cybersecurity agencies and Microsoft warned Wednesday.Those operations may be aimed at developing ways to disrupt critical communications between the U.S.

foreign interference in Canadian elections and society is not needed, special rapporteur David Johnston says.The 81-year-old former governor general made the recommendation Tuesday after being given two months to do so by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau back in March. Johnston had until May 23 to decide whether an inquiry or another form of independent review was warranted.However, public hearings should be conducted on the allegations, Johnston said.

Canada is expelling the Chinese diplomat who allegedly worked with Beijing to target Conservative MP Michael Chong and his relatives in Hong Kong.

On a Sunday morning in Taipei, a few dozen Taiwanese civilians carrying travel coffee mugs and notebooks settled into their seats in a classroom for a day-long crash course on surviving a Chinese military invasion.

Taiwan’s foreign affairs minister says the island is actively trying to prepare for a military attack by China in the coming months or years, and believes it’s only a matter of time before Beijing will move in on the self-governing island.In an interview with Global News in Taipei, Joseph Wu said Taiwan is shoring up international support and focusing on military reforms to be “as ready as possible” for such an attack, which could come at any time as China displays increasingly “provocative and expansionist” behaviour.“(An attack) might be in 2025, 2027 or 2035,” he said. “There’s some merit to those analyses.“But from our perspective, we should not wait for those years to come.

RCMP says he would support additional laws that allow police to further crack down on foreign interference in Canada, as well as ways to further collaborate with intelligence officials on the issue.But Mike Duheme adds multiple investigations remain underway that he’s confident will lead to criminal charges, though he did not give specifics.“When you ask any police officers if we can have more laws — if we can have additional legislation that would ensure that it would assist us as we move forward, but also ensure the safety of the public and of Canadians — I’d say yes, I’m favorable for that and very supportive,” Duheme told Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block. Read more: On foreign interference, Canada playing ‘whack-a-mole’ to China’s chess: expert He pointed to the case in November where a Hydro-Quebec employee was charged with alleged espionage on behalf of China as an example of a successful RCMP investigation into foreign interference.“We were successful in laying charges against this individual, and we have other files that are moving forward that we will be successful in laying charges,” said Duheme, who was previously deputy commissioner of federal policing and oversaw foreign interference investigations as part of his mandate.Duheme would not say if those charges were related to the alleged Chinese-operated “police stations” the RCMP says it is investigating in the Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal areas.He said those investigations are ongoing and urged anyone with information to reach out to investigators.

foreign interference by hostile actors, including China and Russia.After announcing the launch of public consultations for the registry on Friday, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino did not say whether he will meet calls from security experts who say Canada could have the measure in place as soon as this summer when pressed by Eric Sorensen on The West Block Sunday.“We’ve committed to having a very focused conversation around how it is that we want to inform the creation of this foreign registry,” the minister said. “I also want to be sure that we get the threshold right.“We want to foster transparency around legitimate activities of foreign actors.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday committed to new steps his government will take to combat foreign interference, including additional independent investigations and further steps toward establishing a foreign agents registry.

Chinese interference in Canadian elections and society amid calls for a public inquiry, the leaders of the federal Conservative and New Democratic parties say.Their calls come as the RCMP says it has opened an investigation into possible violations of the Security of Information Act concerning recent media reports about alleged foreign interference, and that its probe is not focused on any one security agency.Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh made the comments to reporters on Monday as the House of Commons resumes following a two-week hiatus, and as suspected Chinese foreign interference in Canada is expected to be a hot topic this week.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he is not “ruling out” making a public inquiry into foreign interference a condition for continuing the governance deal with the federal Liberals, but says that is not a decision he is making just yet.

foreign interference efforts, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says.Trudeau made the comments to reporters in Winnipeg on Friday as pressure grows on the federal government to call a public inquiry over reports of attempted Chinese interference in Canadian elections and society.“We know that Chinese Canadian parliamentarians, and Chinese Canadians in general, are greater targets for interference by China than others,” he said.“We know the same goes for Iranian Canadians, who are more subject to interference from the Iranian government. Russian speakers in Canada are more vulnerable to Russian misinformation and disinformation, and we get updated regularly on how we can make sure that our integrity and that the work that Canadians do to serve in politics is done with full protections.” Read more: Most Canadians believe China did try to interfere in elections - poll Trudeau had been asked a question regarding a Global News investigative report that cited information from intelligence officials who allegedly provided Trudeau’s party with an urgent, classified briefing in late September 2019 regarding Toronto-area Liberal candidate Han Dong.The sources said that over the summer, CSIS had been tracking Dong — a former Ontario Liberal MPP — because they were concerned he had replaced Don Valley North Liberal incumbent Geng Tan under what they thought were suspicious circumstances.They were concerned that Dong was believed to be the favoured candidate of officials in the Toronto Chinese consulate, according to an official with direct awareness of the alleged threat brief about Dong.Responding to questions from Global News for the story, Dong has denied the allegations and on Monday stated he would defend himself.

The opposition New Democrats are pushing for a “national public inquiry” into foreign interference in Canadian elections, Global News has learned.

Jagmeet Singh is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to hold a public inquiry into alleged Chinese election interference, joining several high-profile officials making the same ask.Singh, whose party is upholding Trudeau’s Liberal minority government, said in a statement Monday that while his party accepts the outcome of the 2021 election, serious allegations of foreign interference made in recent media reports need a “thorough, transparent and independent investigation.” Read more: Liberals ignored CSIS warning on 2019 candidate accused in Chinese interference probe, sources say Read next: ‘We kind of missed the landing’: Alberta premier on awkward handshake with prime minister “When Canadians learn about possible foreign interference through leaked documents, confidence in our democracy is put at risk,” Singh said.“The way to stop alleged secret Chinese interference is to refuse to keep their secrets for them.

Justin Trudeau is under increasing cross-partisan pressure to call an independent inquiry into foreign meddling in Canadian politics.The push for some form of public inquiry isn’t limited to the Liberals’ political opponents, but former senior national security officials and a former close confidant of the prime minister. Read more: Canada needs an inquiry into Chinese election interference: ex-spymaster Read next: Part of the Sun breaks free and forms a strange vortex, baffling scientists “Some form of non-partisan deep look has to happen here,” Gerald Butts, Trudeau’s former principal secretary, told Global News in an interview Sunday.Butts, now the vice chairman of the Eurasia Group, said there are a number of ways the government could commission a non-partisan investigation, including a public inquiry, Royal commission or a commission of inquiry.“We have many tools at our disposal,” Butts said, adding that while recent reports have focused on Chinese political interference, the issue is broader.“It’s not going to get at the heart of the problem if we just pick one election cycle and one country.”Global News reported Saturday that Dick Fadden, the former head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and a longtime senior national security official, said he could see no “compelling reason” not to hold a public inquiry into foreign interference.

Indian intelligence agencies attempted to use money and disinformation to “covertly influence” Canadian politicians, according to a highly sensitive government document obtained by Global News.