OTTAWA — Canada’s foreign influence commissioner says his office contacted more than 60 organizations and individuals involved in Alberta’s referendum debate to warn them about possible registration requirements, including the pro-independence Alberta Prosperity Project.In an interview following a parliamentary committee meeting Tuesday, Foreign Influence Transparency Commissioner Anton Boegman said the outreach was conducted with help from Elections Alberta and through his office’s own research.“There are 60 organizations that we either identified through our collaboration with Elections Alberta or our own efforts at understanding who’s participating in the debate,” Boegman said.“We wanted to make sure that they were aware of what the requirements are of our law, so if they did meet those, they could then register.”Boegman said the office contacted the Alberta Prosperity Project on or shortly before Sept. 22.“We communicated with them. We have not, as far as I know, heard back from them,” he said, while cautioning that he did not have the office’s latest information in front of him..The outreach does not mean the commissioner has determined that the organization or any of its members must register.The Alberta Prosperity Project has played a prominent role in the province’s independence movement ahead of Alberta’s Oct. 19 referendum.A recent Globe and Mail investigation reported that Republican political operatives from Michigan travelled to Calgary and discussed campaign and voter-targeting strategies with figures in the Alberta independence movement.The report also examined previous contacts between Alberta Prosperity Project figures and officials in Washington.Asked whether the Alberta Prosperity Project was among the approximately 30 submissions received by the registry, Boegman said he had not yet reviewed all the information and expected to be briefed this week..He also could not say whether organization figures Mitch Sylvestre, Jeffrey Rath and Dennis Modry were among those contacted.“I don’t have the list in front of me,” he said. “It’s over 60 names that we communicated with.”Boegman said a meeting held before the foreign influence law came into force on Aug. 4 would not automatically create a current registration obligation.“If someone met with someone a year ago, and that was the extent of that arrangement, then the law just came into force on August 4,” he said. “There are things that may have taken place previously. They’re not applicable now.”“If the relations continue and it’s part of an influence activity, then it would be.”Under the Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act, registration is generally required when a person or organization has an arrangement with a foreign principal, seeks to influence a political or governmental process and undertakes a covered activity..Those activities include communications with public officials, communications with the public and the provision of money, services or facilities.Boegman stressed that a shared political position, personal relationship, meeting or ideological alignment does not by itself establish an arrangement under the law.“Each case needs to be looked at specifically based on the facts of that case, based on the application of the law,” he said.“If someone should have been on the registry and is not on the registry, then we’ll move ahead with compliance and enforcement action.”Boegman said enforcement can begin with helping a person complete a registration or issuing a compliance notice. More serious cases could result in administrative monetary penalties, an investigation or referral to the RCMP.“We would have to make sure that we’re following due process, making sure it’s done in a procedurally fair way and that we’re looking at the specific facts, which may or may not be what’s been reported in the media,” he said..The commissioner said his office had not contacted anyone in the United States regarding possible activities connected with the Alberta referendum. He also said, to his knowledge, it had not contacted news organizations.Boegman expressed hope that Alberta-related registrations, if any meet the legal test, could be published before the Oct. 19 vote.“We hope so, for sure,” he said.He noted that foreign organizations, think tanks or foundations do not necessarily fall within the registration regime simply because they are based outside Canada.“It’s not anyone who is in a different country,” he said. “They don’t necessarily meet that definition.”Asked whether that left foreign think tanks free to intervene in Alberta or Quebec without appearing on the registry, Boegman said his office was only one component of Canada’s response to foreign interference.“I administer my mandate,” he said. “There are other agencies that have roles to play in this space. CSIS has a role to play. RCMP has a role to play.”“We deal specifically with transparency around foreign influence activities, but other agencies have their own mandates.”The act covers influence efforts directed at elections and referendums, government policies, legislation, contracts and other political or governmental decisions.Boegman said transparency remains the registry’s central purpose.“Lots of what’s happening in Alberta, or has been alleged to happen in Alberta, is in the public debate,” he said. “People are talking about it. Media is reporting on it. So there is certainly a measure of transparency there.”“Do they meet the requirements of the legislation? Those are things that the deadline has passed, that we’re looking at.”
