C-70 , 44th Parliament, 1st session Monday, November 22, 2021, to present

A legislative summary is currently being prepared for this bill by the Library of Parliament. Meanwhile, the following executive summary is available.

On 6 May 2024, the Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs introduced Bill C-70, An Act respecting countering foreign interference (Countering Foreign Interference Act), and it was given first reading.

Part 1 amends the Canadian Security Intelligence Act to, among other things,

(a) update provisions respecting the collection, retention, querying and exploitation of datatsets;

(b) clarify the scope of section 16 of that Act;

(c) update provisions respecting the disclosure of information by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service;

(d) provide for preservation orders and production orders as well as warrants to obtain information, records, documents or things through a single attempt;

(e) expand the circumstances in which a warrant to remove a thing from the place where it was installed may be issued; and

(f) require a parliamentary review of that Act every five years.

It also makes a consequential amendment to the Intelligence Commissioner Act.

Part 2 amends the Security of Information Act to, among other things, create the following offences:

(a) committing an indictable offence at the direction of, for the benefit of, or in association with a foreign entity;

(b) knowingly engaging in surreptitious or deceptive conduct at the direction of, for the benefit of or in association with a foreign entity for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the State or being reckless as to whether the conduct is likely to harm Canadian interests; and

(c) engaging in surreptitious or deceptive conduct, at the direction of or in association with a foreign entity, with the intent to influence, among other things, the exercise of a democratic right in Canada.

It also amends that Act to remove as an element of the offence of inducing or attempting to induce — at the direction of, for the benefit of or in association with a foreign entity or terrorist group — by intimidation, threat or violence, a person to do anything or cause anything to be done, that the thing be done for the purpose of harming Canadian interests when the person who is alleged to have committed the offence or the victim has a link to Canada.

It also amends the Criminal Code to, among other things, broaden the scope of the sabotage offence to include certain acts done in relation to essential infrastructures and ensure that certain provisions respecting the interception of “private communications” as defined in that Act apply to certain offences in the Foreign Interference and Security of Information Act.

Finally, it makes consequential amendments to other Acts.

Part 3 amends the Canada Evidence Act and makes consequential amendments to other Acts to, among other things,

(a) create a general scheme to deal with information relating to international relations, national defence or national security in the course of proceedings that are in the Federal Court or the Federal Court of Appeal and that are in respect of any decision of a federal board, commission or other tribunal;

(b) permit the appointment of a special counsel for the purposes of protecting the interests of a non-governmental party to those proceedings in respect of such information; and

(c) allow a person charged with an offence to appeal a decision, made under the Canada Evidence Act with respect to the disclosure of certain information in relation to criminal proceedings, only after the person has been convicted of the offence, unless there are exceptional circumstances justifying an earlier appeal.

It also adds references to international relations, national defence and national security in a provision of the Criminal Code that relates to the protection of information, as well as references to international relations and national defence in certain provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act that equally relate to the protection of information.

Part 4 enacts the Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act which, among other things,

(a) provides for the appointment of an individual to be known as the Foreign Influence Transparency Commissioner;

(b) requires certain persons to provide the Commissioner with certain information if they enter into arrangements with foreign principals under which they undertake to carry out certain activities in relation to political or governmental processes in Canada;

(c) requires the Commissioner to establish and maintain a publicly accessible registry that contains information about those arrangements;

(d) provides the Commissioner with tools to administer and enforce that Act; and

(e) amends the Public Service Superannuation Act, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians Act and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency Act.