On March 6, 2023, the Government of Canada announced several measures to combat foreign interference and uphold confidence in our democratic institutions. Those measures included a request to develop a plan, within 30 days, to address outstanding recommendations from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) and assessments of the Critical Election Incident Public Protocol (the Protocol). Specifically, the reports include:
- National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians Annual Report 2019
- Special report into the allegations associated with Prime Minister Trudeau's official visit to India in February 2018
- Report on the Assessment of the 2021 Critical Election Incident Public Protocol (Rosenberg Report)
- Report on the Assessment of the Critical Election Incident Public Protocol - May 2020 (Judd Report)
Between 2018 and 2023, a total of 26 recommendations were made, including 16 delivered in February 2023 as part of the Rosenberg Report. The recommendations have been grouped by the following themes:
- Communicating with Canadians about Foreign Interference and Protecting Canada's Democracy
- Effective Governance and Strong Legal Frameworks
- Risks, Vulnerabilities, and Security Measures
- Engagement with Partners to Enhance Awareness and Improve Resilience to Foreign Interference
There has been significant work done to implement many of the recommendations from the reports, and the government is continuing to work toward implementing others.
- The five recommendations from the two NSICOP reports (2018 and 2019) have been partially addressed. Some action has been taken with respect to every recommendation, and additional options for consideration have been identified.
- Four of the five recommendations of the Judd Report have been implemented in whole or in part. One of the recommendations proposes that the Protocol be expanded to apply even when there is no election being held. This had not been implemented because Ministers already have the responsibility and the necessary powers to address any concerns about foreign interference that could arise between elections. Ministerial responsibility is a fundamental tenet of Canada's parliamentary democracy. The Rosenberg report, received in February 2023, outlined 16 recommendations which are in the process of being considered for early implementation.
NSICOP and Protocol Assessment Reports
In 2017, the Government of Canada introduced legislation to create the NSICOP, made up of Members of Parliament from each party and Senators with top-secret security clearance to review national security and intelligence activities across the government. It was modelled on similar approaches taken by international partners and has since reviewed and provided recommendations on issues concerning national security. In 2019, the NSICOP completed a review of foreign interference in Canada and published their unclassified findings and recommendations in their 2019 annual report. NSICOP also published recommendations relating to foreign interference in their Special Report in February 2018.
As part of the Plan to Protect Canada's Democracy, starting with the 2019 election, the Government of Canada established the Critical Election Incident Public Protocol, which is administered by a panel of the most senior federal public servants (the Panel) who, working with national security agencies, are responsible for communicating with Canadians in the event of an incident or series of incidents that threaten Canada's ability to have a free and fair election.
James Judd, a former director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, undertook an assessment of the Protocol covering the 2019 federal election. Morris Rosenberg, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Attorney General of Canada, conducted his assessment of the Protocol covering the 2021 federal election. During the 2019 and 2021 general election, the Panel did not detect foreign interference that threatened the integrity of either election.
