If they’re not going to allow a PUBLIC Inquiry, they have to appear to be doing something…& this has the appearance of being something.OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government plans to launch a National Counter-Foreign Interference Office, amid ongoing scrutiny of allegations that Beijing interfered in recent federal elections.
Tuesday's federal budget earmarked $56 million over five years for measures to combat foreign interference, threats and covert activities.
Keep in mind, that any Liberal/NDP promise beyond 2025 is just smoke & mirrors…as beyond the next federal election in 2025, it’s just false promises dumped on the next government just like the debt being dumped on our grandchildren.
Canada’s former head of CSIS’s Asia-Pacific unit says any new body countering foreign interference must be answerable to Parliament, not a cabinet minister.The budget document says the new office will be created within the Department of Public Safety, but it does not include a timeline for its launch.
New counter-interference office must answer to Parliament, not a ministry: former CSIS officer — National Post
'For this new body to report to a minister is to repeat the same pattern of failure and political interference,' Michel Juneau-Katsuya told the ethics committee
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“For this new body to report to a minister is to repeat the same pattern of failure and political interference,” Juneau-Katsuya continued.The measures come as former governor general David Johnston takes up his role as a special rapporteur, with a mandate to sort out whether Trudeau should call the public inquiry demanded by the three opposition parties, & the NDP.
“This office must be independent, separate from CSIS and the RCMP — it needs to report directly to the House of Commons, with a director appointed by the House.”
This new office, he said, must have the powers and ability to investigate, search, arrest and prosecute in a criminal court and operate without the possibility of political interference.
The Liberals are also proposing legislative amendments that would task a federal banking watchdog with determining whether large financial institutions "have adequate policies and procedures to protect themselves against threats to their integrity and security, including protection against foreign interference."
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions would also be given the powers to take control of a bank "where there are national security risks."
Hmmmm….That sounds vaguely familiar like I’ve heard it somewhere before or something like it about February 14th 2022 or so….
The proposed legislative changes would enact whistleblower protections and crack down on people who avoid reporting requirements by using a series of small transactions.
RCMP investigating leaks alleging foreign election interference
The RCMP says it has launched an investigation into violations of national security information law in connection to media leaks of Chinese foreign interference allegations.www.ctvnews.ca
Ottawa would also compel banks to report on assets held by people who are subject to sanctions, beefing up existing rules that generally only compel such reporting on clients suspected of terrorist financing and money laundering.
Anyway, more about this reactive posturing, as opposed to actually stating what the Prime Minister knew about election interference prior, and during the last two federal elections in 2019 & 2021 at the below link:
Liberals add foreign interference office, new money-laundering rules in latest budget
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government plans to launch a National Counter-Foreign Interference Office, amid ongoing scrutiny of allegations that Beijing interfered in recent federal elections.www.ctvnews.ca