Toronto: Following a Parliamentary committee report that stated that some Canadian MPs have been influenced by other countries, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government takes the matter of foreign interference “very seriously”.
“This government is taking this very seriously,” Trudeau said as the matter was raised in the House of Commons on June 4, the Hindustan Times reported. The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSCIOP) said that some MPs acted inappropriately in communicating with foreign missions, and may have attempted to “improperly influence” their colleagues and shared “privileged information” with foreign diplomats.
Further, the report, which was submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office in May but tabled with redactions, alleged that some MPs may have received funding from foreign actors or their proxies.
The report said the Asian behemoth was “clearly the most prolific actor, followed by India that “emerged as the second-most significant foreign interference threat to Canada’s democratic institutions and processes” displacing Russia. It added that China, India, Pakistan and Iran engaged in “transnational repression”.
