While China is perceived as the principal threat of potential interference in the federal election in Canada, Ottawa is also monitoring potential influence operations by other countries, including India.
As the campaign for the federal election on April 28 got underway on Sunday, the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force is actively monitoring possible interference activity.
During a briefing on Monday, the task force’s chair, Vanessa Lloyd, also Deputy Director of Operations at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), said, “The PRC (People’s Republic of China) is highly likely to use AI-enabled tools to attempt to interfere with Canada’s democratic process in this current election,” according to media reports.
She also cited India as a potential threat, saying, “We have also seen that the government of India has the intent and capability to interfere in Canadian communities and democratic processes.”
The other countries named in the context of clandestine foreign interference were Russia and Pakistan.
