Achi news desk-
The governments of India and Pakistan tried to interfere in Canada’s federal elections in 2019 and 2021, Canada’s spy agency said in documents published late Thursday.
In 2021, the Indian government “intended to intervene and likely conduct covert activities,” including using a proxy agent of the Indian government in Canada, according to an unclassified summary written by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).
Two years earlier, in 2019, “Pakistani government officials in Canada attempted to covertly influence Canadian federal politics with the goal of furthering the interests of the Government of Pakistan in Canada,” CSIS wrote.
The harsh assessments are contained in documents presented as part of the federal commission of inquiry into foreign interference. The public inquiry examines possible interference by China, India, Russia and others in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.
All reports are a warning that the summaries may not be confirmed, single-sourced or incomplete. CSIS Director David Vigneault told the public inquiry that intelligence is not necessarily fact, and said further investigation may be needed.
Pakistan a ‘limited foreign interference actor’
The Pakistani government’s foreign intervention against Canada was “primarily to promote political stability, security and economic stability in Pakistan and to counter India’s growing global influence,” read one CSIS assessment, noting that Pakistan was a “limited foreign intervention actor” in 2019 and 2021.
In the case of the 2019 election, CSIS said the Canadian government conducted what it called a “threat reduction measure” before the vote, which was meant to “reduce the threat of foreign interference posed by the Government of Pakistan.”
“The situation was monitored and assessed to have effectively reduced the threat of intrusion,” CSIS wrote.
CSIS says its information shows the Indian government also interfered in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.
India supported pro-India candidates
CSIS claims that the Indian government’s foreign interference activities in 2021 “are focused on a small number of electoral districts.” The Indian government targeted those ridings, CSIS wrote, because India perceived that “a portion of Indo-Canadian voters sympathize with the Khalistani movement or pro-Pakistani political stances.”
The Khalistan movement is a separatist movement aiming to carve out an independent Sikh nation in the northern Indian state of Punjab. The Indian government has long claimed that the Punjabi independence movement undermines India’s national security.
Historically some Sikhs have been looking for an independent Sikh homeland in northern India called Khalistan. Experts say that the movement’s history is complex, emotional and evolving.
The CSIS summary goes on to say that it has gathered a “body of intelligence” indicating that a “proxy agent” of the Indian government may have attempted to interfere with democratic processes” by providing illegal financial support to pro-Indian candidates.
“Any such financial contribution could have remained unknown to the applicant,” CSIS said.
The CSIS memo does not identify the specific ridings or candidates that may have been subject to Indian interference in 2021.
CSIS describes the proxy agent as “a specific individual who takes specific and/or implied direction from a foreign state while concealing the connection between influence activities and a foreign state.”
Proxy agents are based in Canada and do not necessarily have to belong to a specific diaspora community, CSIS explains, and “are eager participants to advance the state’s objective abroad in specific circumstances.”
Representatives of various expatriate communities in Canada testified before a federal commission of inquiry into foreign interference. They say they have faced harassment and intimidation from their home countries on Canadian soil, affecting them and their families abroad.
The documents are a series of unclassified intelligence summaries written primarily by CSIS, with “input and agreement” from the Communications Security Institute – another Canadian spy agency focused on electronic surveillance – Global Affairs Canada, the Secret Service Council, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Public Safety Canada.
Pakistan and India have not been the focus of evidence during this stage of the public inquiry into foreign interference, which began last week. The case is primarily aimed at alleged foreign interference by China. But the two countries in South Asia have come up in other documents presented in the investigation.
A public summary of a classified CSIS briefing provided to political parties dated June 2019 lists India and Pakistan among other state actors that could engage in interference in Canada.
Meaning a word that appears right before the word “Pakistani” in a sentence, the briefing goes on to say “Pakistani officials in Canada are likely to seek to secretly influence and support Canadian politicians of Pakistani descent, with the aimed at promoting Pakistani interests in Canada. .”
Three of the five paragraphs about India in that briefing note have been largely redacted, but it states that “Indian officials have used a network of contacts, which includes politicians, academics, business people, personalities’ media and community leaders, to monitor Canadian individuals of interest to the Government of India.”
CSIS also wrote that it has noted that there have been “Indian interference activities targeted at Canadian Members of Parliament, Provincial Legislative Members… outside the scope of regular diplomatic norms.”
In July 2021, the Security Intelligence Task Force on Election Threats (SITE) – a Canadian government body made up of senior civil servants from the RCMP, CSIS, Global Affairs and the CSE – held a briefing for political parties about lessons learned from the 2019 election.
SITE wrote that in 2019 it observed “foreign interference activities targeting certain riders and candidates in relation to the election, directed mainly from China, and to a lesser extent from India and Pakistan, through the use of human agents.”
The document went on to say that “none of the activities met the threshold for criminal investigations.”
The document had a section on Pakistan, which was completely redacted.
On India, SITE said in a briefing that the country “actively conducts foreign interference and targets Canadian political figures. Working through Indian officials in Canada, India engages in a variety of activities that seek to influence Canadian communities and politicians in order to advance its political interests.
“India is interested in engaging its diaspora in Canada to shape political outcomes in its favour.”
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