An unknown number of parliamentarians have spied on colleagues and cooperated with hostile foreign nations to manipulate Canada's democracy, a federal report shows. The documents state felonies may have been committed, and at least one MP is a known informant for a foreign government, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliament (NSICOP) said Monday, per Blacklock’s Reporter. The committee reviewed top-secret intelligence reports that suggested sitting parliamentarians are “witting or semi-witting” participants in foreign interference operations, including divulging secrets to foreign governments.“Some parliamentarians are, in the words of the intelligence services, ‘semi-witting or witting’ participants in the efforts of foreign states to interfere in our politics,” said the NSICOP report.“These examples include communicating frequently with foreign missions before or during a political campaign to obtain support from community groups or businesses which the diplomatic missions promise to quietly mobilize in a candidate’s favour.”.Unidentified public office holders were known to pocket “funds or benefits from foreign missions,” wrote the committee, adding others leaked confidential information or acted at the “request or direction of foreign officials to improperly influence parliamentary colleagues or parliamentary business to the advantage of a foreign state.”“These are particularly concerning examples of behaviour by a few parliamentarians. Some may be illegal.”The report did not name names. It cited one case in which an MP “sought to arrange a meeting in a foreign state with senior intelligence officials and also proactively provided the intelligence officer with information provided in confidence.”The NSICOP report into foreign meddling in Canada’s democratic institutions noted China “is clearly the most prolific actor” in clandestine operations, and cited foreign meddling from countries like China, India and Iran.Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc on Monday refused to answer questions from media. “It’s unwise to speak about specific elements that may involve individuals,” said LeBlanc.When asked if the minister agrees with the report that an MP sought a meeting with a foreign intelligence officer, LeBlanc responded, “I want to be careful not to comment.”He also refused to comment on whether the parliamentarian in question in still a sitting MP, LeBlanc said he’s “not going to address the individual allegations.”. The last time a parliamentarian was convicted of espionage was in 1947. Labour-Progressive MP Fred Rose was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for violating the Official Secrets Act for acting as a Soviet agent. “Foreign actors have targeted federal parliamentarians to collect information to support potential future efforts to coerce them,” said the NSICOP report. “Foreign actors have also intimidated or pressured parliamentarians who they perceived as having taken political positions counter to theirs. The People’s Republic of China in particular employs this strategy.”Chinese agent specifically targeted public office holders “in ridings with large numbers of ethnic Chinese voters and who maintain close relationships with the Chinese ethnocultural community including through Chinese leaders and businesspeople.”
