“Canada has never faced threats of such magnitude”, says the Canadian Security Intelligence Service in its latest report which names India, Pakistan, China and Russia as the prime offenders.
By P.K.Balachandran
Colombo, June 20 – Even as Canada and India are mending fences at the Prime Ministerial level, Canada’s intelligence agency has reiterated the charge that India is indulging in what it calls “foreign repression” or repression of Canadian citizens on Canadian soil.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service in its latest report has named India, Pakistan, China and Russia as the prime offenders in terms of “foreign repression.”
Threats to Canada’s security have increased and intensified according to Vanessa Lloyd, Deputy Director of Operations at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
“Never in the combined histories of Canada, US and UK, have they faced threats of such magnitude simultaneously. Foreign interference and espionage activities in Canada continue to be pervasive, sophisticated, and persistent. Active targets of these activities include institutions at all levels of government, private sector companies and associations, universities, civil society groups, and ethnic, religious and cultural communities within Canada,” the intelligence report says.
India
During the G7 summit in Alberta, Canada, earlier this month, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney defended inviting India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 meeting in Alberta, despite the pending charge of interfering in Canadian affairs through repression.
Carney said it makes sense to have the leader of the world’s most populous country around the table when there are “big challenges” to discuss.
Canada-India relations had been on shaky ground since former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Canadian police alleged that Indian agents were involved in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Canadian Khalistani separatist who was brazenly gunned down outside a Sikh temple in 2023.
India Agrees to Cooperate
“We’ve made progress with India in a bilateral sense. They are OK with having a legal process between law enforcement entities,” Carney said referring to some sort of co-operation between Canadian police and Indian authorities over Nijjar’s murder.
“There is a process concerning the killing of a Canadian citizen that is ongoing, and that will continue. India knows that,” Carney said. Asked if he’s spoken to Modi about Nijjar and the ongoing police investigation, Carney said: “Yes, I have.”
Carney said Canada wants to discuss energy security, critical minerals and the development of artificial intelligence — three of his stated priorities for this meeting of world leaders — and it’s “hard to have those discussions without India.”
Canada expelled some Indian diplomats after the Nijjar allegations were made public.
Intelligence Report
The latest Canadian intelligence report says that a Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference (PIFI) began its first phase of public hearings in March 2024. The extent of the Government of India’s involvement in foreign interference became clearer.
“Indian officials, including their Canada-based proxy agents, engage in a range of activities that seek to influence Canadian communities and politicians,” the report of the intelligence service says.
“These activities attempt to steer Canada’s positions into alignment with India’s interests on key issues, particularly with respect to how the Indian government perceives Canada-based supporters of an independent homeland that they call Khalistan,” it notes.
Nijjar Case
The report says that the Government of Canada’s investigation into the 2023 killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar continued in 2024 and four individuals were arrested in May 2024 and charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
“Criminal proceedings are ongoing. In mid-October, as part of ongoing Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) investigations, the RCMP announced that evidence pointed to a link between agents of the Government of India and criminal networks to sow violent activity in South Asian communities in Canada,” the report said.
“On October 14, Canada, in the interests of public safety, expelled six Indian diplomats and consular officials in order to disrupt this network. Links between the Government of India.”
“The Nijjar murder signals a significant escalation in India’s repression efforts against the Khalistan movement and a clear intent to target individuals in North America.”
“As PIFI reached the end of its public hearings and South Asian communities in Canada expressed concerns over Government of India pressure tactics and targeting, CSIS noted that this form of foreign interference, called transnational repression, plays a central role in India’s activity in Canada.”
“Canada must remain vigilant about continued foreign interference conducted by the Government of India, not only within ethnic, religious and cultural communities but also in Canada’s political system. CSIS will continue to observe and assess the nature and extent of India’s activities in Canada,” the report urged.
Pakistan
In May 2024, the PIFI initial report named Pakistan amongst states that have interfered in Canadian democratic processes. In June 2024, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) published its Special Report on Foreign Interference in Canada’s Democratic Processes and Institutions.
The NSICOP highlighted how Pakistan was amongst the countries to have engaged in foreign interference activities that posed a significant risk to national security, principally by undermining Canada’s fundamental institutions and eroding the rights and freedoms of people in Canada.
The Government of Pakistan engaged in foreign interference in previous federal and provincial elections, for example, by attempting to clandestinely affect the selection of politicians and candidates who are perceived to be more pro-Pakistan than pro-India.
In addition to interference against Canadian democratic processes, Pakistan engaged in transnational repression by suppressing dissidents and critics in Canada, the report charged.
Pakistan conducts foreign interference against Canada to promote political, security and economic stability in Pakistan and to counter India’s growing global influence.
Canada is an attractive foreign interference target due to its significant South Asian community and presence of groups who may be utilized as pro-Pakistan or anti-India proxies, the report said.
China Greatest Threat
With one of the world’s largest and most active security intelligence systems, the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) poses the greatest counter-intelligence threat to Canada, the report said.
“The Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) and the Military Intelligence Directorate apply a variety of methods, including leveraging social media and job advertising platforms and offering financial incentives, to recruit individuals to provide the PRC with privileged or classified government documents or proprietary information.”
“The MSS, the Ministry of Public Security, and the United Front Work Department—the Chinese communist party’s primary foreign interference administrative arm—also try to recruit people to spy on Canadians who challenge the narratives promoted by the CCP leadership, thereby undermining Canadian values.”
“This kind of foreign interference can include coercing a victim to return to the PRC or threatening their family members in China. The PRC largely targets those it sees as posing a threat to CCP rule, such as human rights activists, political dissidents, journalists, and members of religious and ethnic minority groups.”
In addition to normal diplomatic activity, the PRC employs deceptive and clandestine means to attempt to influence Canadian policy-making at all levels of government (municipal, provincial, federal, Indigenous), and broader civil society, such as non-governmental organizations, media, and academia ,the report says.
“CCP-friendly narratives inundate Chinese-language media in Canada. The PRC actively seeks to shape public opinion to gain support for its strategic objectives, while undermining alternative viewpoints, particularly those critical of the CCP. The CCP controls narratives by limiting opportunities for dissenting voices and media organizations to operate in Canada; by providing economic incentives to journalists and media outlets to publish CCP approved content; and by fostering self-censorship through threats and punishments.”
Making a more serious charge the report says that the “PRC uses clandestine and deceptive means to acquire intellectual property and emerging technologies, most notably those related to artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotechnology, and aerospace from Canada and its allies to provide PRC companies and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) with competitive and strategic advantages.”
Using Canadian in Chinese Pilots’ Training
In an interesting revelation, in 2023 and 2024, the CSIS grew concerned about former Canadian Armed Forces pilots employed in the PRC by the Test Flying Academy of South Africa, an entity contracted by the PLA to teach advanced Canadian and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) fighter pilot tactics, techniques and procedures to PLA pilots. In response, CSIS warned the pilots by letter that such an activity is detrimental to Canada’s security interests.
In conjunction with its Five Eyes partners, CSIS also issued a historic joint bulletin warning of the PRC’s evolving efforts to recruit current and former western service members to bolster the PRC’s military.
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