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Alleged Chinese meddling spurs foreign agent registry in Canada

  • New law will require people lobbying on behalf of a foreign government to register
  • China has rejected claims it meddled in Canada’s previous two national elections

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China-Canada ties have been strained in recent years. File photo: AFP
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government will require people lobbying or otherwise acting on behalf of a foreign government to register that activity publicly, a move that comes after allegations China attempted to meddle in the last two Canadian elections.
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The new law was introduced in Canada’s parliament on Monday, along with a series of other amendments to make it easier to prosecute illegal foreign influence activity.
Many of Canada’s peer democracies already have a foreign agents registry, including the United States and Australia, but Trudeau had hesitated to enact one over concerns it could lead to racist practices.
“One has to only think of the internment of Japanese citizens, or Japanese-Canadians or Italian-Canadians, during the past World Wars to know that we must be very, very careful with these things,” Trudeau said last year when asked about creating a registry.

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Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau alleges China interfered in 2019 and 2021 elections

Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau alleges China interfered in 2019 and 2021 elections

The activity that could land someone on the registry include lobbying a public official, advertising to the public or distributing funds on behalf of “foreign principals”, which could mean a foreign government or other proscribed foreign organisations.

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