The Burgeoning Threat of Foreign Interference

Australia undermined but Canada could face worse due to political infiltration, warns expert

(Clockwise from top L) RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki speaks on the Cameron Ortis investigation in Ottawa on Sept. 17, 2019. Australian Labor Party Senator Sam Dastyari in Sydney on Sept. 6, 2016. Australian Liberal MP Gladys Liu becomes emotional at Parliament House in Canberra on Sept. 12, 2019. A federal election polling station in Vaughan, Ont., on Oct. 19, 2015. William West, Tracey Nearmy/AFP/Getty Images; Chris Wattie, Peter Power/The Canadian Press

News Analysis

For a time, the once up-and-coming Australian politician Sam Dastyari became the poster boy for everything wrong with his country’s lax attitude in the face of ever-deepening foreign interference risks.