Budget earmarks millions to combat foreign interference

The RCMP will be getting tens of million of dollars over the next three years to ramp up investigations related to the harassment and intimidation of immigrant diaspora communities in Canada.

The $49 million allocation is buried in Tuesday's federal budget. The document says the money is intended to help the Mounties "protect Canadians from harassment and intimidation" and specifically calls out authoritarian regimes such Russia, China and Iran — all of which have been accused of targeting diaspora communities in Canada.

The new initiative is also intended to safeguard universities and cutting-edge research from espionage.

The budget warns that "foreign actors [are] working to steal information from Canadian companies to benefit their domestic industries." It says that "hostile proxies" intimidate diaspora communities because of their beliefs and values, and foreign intelligence officers seek to "infiltrate Canada's public and research institutions."

Authoritarian regimes "believe they can act with impunity and meddle in the affairs of democracies — and democracies must act to defend ourselves," says the budget document, which was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.

"No one in Canada should ever be threatened by foreign actors, and Canadian businesses and Canadian institutions must be free of foreign interference."

The budget also puts money behind a new agency previously announced by Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino: $13.5 million over five years to establish a National Counter-Foreign Interference Office.

The measures in the federal budget come in the midst of an ongoing political controversy over alleged interference by China in Canada's 2019 and 2021 elections.

A series of leaks involving confidential reports and sources — reportedly connected to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service — have alleged that China attempted to influence the Chinese diaspora community and put money behind individual candidates.

The allegations are under investigation by two parliamentary committees as as well as intelligence oversight agency. All of the opposition parties have demanded a public inquiry into the claims.