OTTAWA — Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree says he wants to boost the minimum penalty of $50 for violating the long-awaited and oft-delayed foreign agent registry after hearing repeatedly that it was too low.
The minister confirmed the change to reporters after testifying about foreign interference at the Procedure and House Affairs committee Thursday.
But he still wouldn’t commit to a date when the foreign agent registry — originally promised to be up and running before last year’s spring election — would be implemented. He only went as far as to say it will be by the “early spring.”
In January, the government proposed fines ranging from $50 to $1 million for violators of the upcoming registry of businesses or people working on behalf of foreign states to influence local politics and governments.
The low $50 minimum raised eyebrows among both proponents for the registry and opposition parties, who noted that other government watchdogs such as the Ethics Commissioner’s base penalty is $100.
Anandasangaree said Thursday that comment came through loud and clear via consultations on the proposed regulations and committed to boosting the amount.
“Some of the opinions I’ve heard, and I’ve heard from Conservative colleagues, I’ve heard from Liberal colleagues, is that $50 is maybe too low and to review that,” he said to National Post after committee.
“We’re looking at comparable registries just to come up with a number that may be a bit higher than the 50,” though there is no final number yet, he added.
National Post reported in January that the government estimates there are nearly 2,500 businesses or people in Canada working surreptitiously on behalf of foreign states to influence local politics and governments who will need to register publicly.
According to the document, the government estimates that 1,550 businesses and 872 individuals will need to declare their foreign influence activities targeting Canada once the registry is up and running.
This week, the Liberals proposed former B.C. electoral watchdog Anton Boegman to be Canada’s first commissioner heading the Foreign Influence Transparency Agency. His appointment must now be approved via votes in the House of Commons and the Senate.
At committee, Anandasangaree told MPs that the registry will be a valuable tool in combatting foreign interference, but is not a “panacea”.
“This, in itself, will not solve all of our issues with respect to elections, but it certainly will assist us,” he said.
During the hour-long meeting, the minister was drilled by Conservative and Bloc Québécois MPs on concerns about security risks associated to Canada’s recent rapprochement with China, including Prime Minister Mark Carney’s desire to attract Chinese electric vehicle makers to Canada.
But Anandasangaree was largely evasive on those issues, responding to questions on concerns about security threats from China with comments on the importance of diversifying Canada’s trade partners.
He also deferred a question from Conservative MP Michael Cooper asking who is the most active perpetrator of foreign interference against Canada to CSIS Director Dan Rogers.
“We’ve called out publicly in the past: China, Russia, India and others,” the head of Canada’s spy agency responded immediately.
But when pushed by Bloc Québécois MP Christine Normandin on security concerns linked to Chinese EV “spy cars” in Canada, Anandasangaree said the government was committed to preventing them from spying on Canadians.
During a trip to China last month, Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed to exempt up to 49,000 Chinese EVs from 100 per cent import tariffs this year, instead charging a preferred rate of 6.1 per cent.
At committee, the public safety minister promised the government would implement safeguards to ensure Canadians’ information and privacy rights will be protected.
“I think what’s critical for us… is to make sure that whatever vehicles are here do not have the capability to transmit information to other sources, other countries,” the minister responded.
National Post
cnardi@postmedia.com
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