Nearly two years after Parliament passed legislation creating a foreign influence transparency registry, federal officials say the system is still not operational despite repeated assurances that its launch was imminent.Blacklock's Reporter says Public Safety Canada officials told the House of Commons affairs committee they are now “extremely close” to launching the long-promised foreign agent registry, a claim that drew skepticism from MPs who noted similar promises were made months ago.“We are extremely close to the finish line,” Sébastien Aubertin-Giguere, assistant deputy minister at Public Safety Canada, told the committee.“The website is all ready to go,” he said. “Everything is set up. We are really in the very, very last miles on all elements.”Parliament passed Bill C-70, the Countering Foreign Interference Act, on June 19, 2024. The legislation requires individuals acting on behalf of foreign governments or entities to register lobbying and influence activities directed at public office holders. Violations can carry penalties of up to five years in prison or fines of as much as $5 million.Conservative MP Michael Cooper pressed officials on why the registry remains unavailable despite repeated government commitments.“Can you give us a ballpark as to when the registry will be up and running?” Cooper asked.He noted Aubertin-Giguere appeared before the same committee in December and offered a nearly identical assessment.“You appeared before this committee in December and your testimony then sounded a lot like your testimony today and we still don’t have a registry in place,” Cooper said.Asked again for a timeline, Aubertin-Giguere declined to provide one.“The only thing I can say is we are very, very close to the finish line,” he replied.Cooper accused the government of repeatedly missing deadlines.“It’s been two years since Bill C-70 was passed that would have established the registry,” he said. “The Liberals promised it would be up and running in June of 2025, then it was December of 2025, then it was the spring, and now it’s almost summer and we still don’t have a registry in place. There has been no timeline, no transparency.”.The registry was originally promoted as a key measure to combat foreign interference in Canadian politics and public institutions. Public Safety Canada had indicated in briefing materials that it would be operational by spring 2025, in time for the federal election.At committee, Liberal MP Jessica Fancy questioned how the registry would distinguish between legitimate advocacy and foreign interference.Aubertin-Giguere said the system is intended to capture all influence arrangements involving foreign powers, regardless of whether national security concerns are immediately apparent.“To be clear, all arrangements with a foreign power to conduct influence activities need to be registered,” he said.“Even arrangements which, I’d say from a national security perspective, would not be considered as problematic, the idea is that all arrangements with foreign powers for influence activities need to be registered.”He said the registry is intended to provide transparency and discourage covert influence operations.“It creates a level playing field in terms of transparency,” Aubertin-Giguere said. “It also creates a deterrent for malign influence. For those who do not wish to be compliant, there are going to be consequences.”The continued delays come amid ongoing concerns over foreign interference by countries including China, India and Iran, issues that have dominated parliamentary debate in recent years and prompted calls for stronger safeguards to protect Canada's democratic institutions.
