Seventeen months after Parliament passed a law to create a public registry of foreign agents, the Carney government still has no timeline for putting it in place. Blacklock's Reporter says Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree told MPs the plan was still “going through a process.”“I wish this was done earlier,” Anandasangaree admitted during testimony before the Commons public safety committee. “We are going through a process. We will have a name.”Parliament passed Bill C-70, the Act Respecting Countering Foreign Interference, on June 19, 2024. The legislation requires anyone acting “at the direction of, for the benefit of or in association with a foreign entity” to register if they lobby public officials, with penalties of up to five years in prison or a $5 million fine for failing to do so.Public Safety officials said last December the registry would be operational by spring 2025. .Sébastien Aubertin-Giguere, associate assistant deputy public safety minister, told senators at the time the department was “working towards a June time frame.”Anandasangaree told MPs on Oct. 23 that the commission overseeing the registry would be up and running by year’s end. But when pressed this week by Conservative MP Frank Caputo of Kamloops-Thompson, B.C., the minister refused to give a firm date.“Foreign interference was pretty darn serious,” Caputo said. “All we want to know is this: Canadians expect seriousness on foreign interference, and you as the minister are the one in charge. You won’t even give us a date.”Canada remains well behind other countries on the issue. The United States has required registration of foreign agents since 1938, the United Kingdom followed suit in 2023, and Australia in 2018.The Liberal cabinet has studied the idea of a registry for years without implementing it. Former Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino told MPs in 2023 the government was being “diligent and thoughtful” rather than hesitant, saying agencies must be “inclusive, diverse and culturally sensitive” to maintain public trust in national security actions.
