Sweeping bill targets foreign meddling

Liberals unveil legislation to widen CSIS powers, create foreign agent registry

- STEPHANIE LEVITZ, ALEX BOYD

Justice Minister Arif Virani said the bill is "a measured, but robust, approach to protect our national security, our way of life, democratic values and our sovereignty."

OTTAWA The Trudeau government unveiled a sweeping new bill Monday in response to long-standing demands that Ottawa do more to thwart efforts by foreign states to maliciously meddle in Canada's affairs.

The bill would give Canada's spy agency more flexibility to share information, create new offences for engaging in foreign interference and, as a centrepiece, create a new system to require those acting on behalf of a foreign state and trying to influence Canadian politics or government to register or face monetary or criminal penalties.

"It is a measured, but robust, approach to protect our national security, our way of life, democratic values and our sovereignty," Justice Minister Arif Virani told reporters after the bill was introduced.

Although it was in the works for over a year, the Countering Foreign Interference Act comes just days after Quebec Justice MarieJosée Hogue released her interim report on foreign interference in Canada's last two federal elections, a sweeping review of what the government and security agencies knew about efforts by foreign states to meddle and what was done to counter them.

While Hogue's focus was on elections, the public inquiry also flagged numerous gaps in how intelligence about foreign interference is gathered and shared, and the limitations in tracking and investigating it.