Alberta Premier Wants CSIS Allowed to Debrief Provinces Amid Interference Concerns

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks in Ottawa on Feb. 5, 2024. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says federal laws should be changed so the nation’s intelligence agency can share with the provinces important information about foreign interference.

International political meddling in Canada has received increased attention in the past two years with intelligence leaks in media about rampant attempts by Beijing to interfere in Canada’s elections and other affairs. Under pressure from opposition parties, the federal government has set up a commission to investigate. Intelligence documents tabled at the commission have said China is the most active foreign regime engaged in interference in Canada.

During an unrelated news conference on April 22, Premier Smith told reporters that in a recent meeting with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), she asked if the agency could inform her of intelligence on her province being a target of interference.

“I asked CSIS if we were a target or they discovered anything, whether they would let us know, and the answer was ‘no,’ which I find quite surprising,” Ms. Smith said.

“We think that to maintain the integrity of our electoral processes that CSIS should be able to debrief us so that we would be able to make people aware of the level of interference and be able to address it.”

Under current legislation, while CSIS regularly briefs the federal government on various intelligence and security findings, it’s not allowed to do the same with the provinces or municipalities except in limited situations, the agency has said. CSIS last year proposed a series of changes as part of a consultation paper, including having the ability to share intelligence with other levels of government.

Mr. Smith’s remarks were in response to a reporter’s question about a report that Chinese officials arranged to secretly meet with a politician in June 2022. The report by Bureau in November 2023 was based on a CSIS document the outlet had seen and said CSIS monitored a particular candidate in Alberta or British Columbia.

Ms. Smith noted that other premiers have also asked for the ability to be briefed by CSIS.

Referring to the ongoing Foreign Interference Commission, she said what has transpired show why other entities beside the federal government need to receive intelligence briefings.”

“The hearings that we saw in the last couple of weeks demonstrate why you need to have more than one entity able to retrieve this information, because there was a bit of a dispute about who knew what about what, and whether the information was passed on,” Ms. Smith said.

During his testimony at the Foreign Interference Commission on April 10, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that he doesn’t read intelligence briefings, relying on his advisers to brief him verbally. Several of those briefings had stated in no uncertain terms that Beijing was engaged in interference in elections.

During her April 22 press conference, Ms. Smith said her recent CSIS briefing was about learning how to spot interference attempts.

“The CSIS briefing was really more about arming our cabinet, and ultimately our caucus with tactics, so that if somebody is trying to create an inappropriate contact, that we’re aware of it, and we know who to call,” she said.

There have been reports of China’s interference in Canada’s affairs at all three levels of government. Former Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart said last year that he was informed by CSIS that he was the target of interference by the Chinese consulate in Vancouver’s 2022 municipal elections, in which he lost.  Mr. Stewart has been outspoken about China’s rights abuses.

Ballot Counting by Hand

The premier’s comments came ahead of her United Conservative government announcing changes to the Local Authorities Election Act and the Municipal Government Act that will, among other changes, prevent the use of electronic tabulators and automated voting machines.

“Through this legislation, we are ensuring that locally elected officials and councils are accountable to the Albertans who elect them and make decisions that are clearly in Alberta’s interests and reflect the transparency and fairness that the citizens of Alberta deserve,” Minister of Municipal Affairs Ric McIver said in an April 25 news conference.

All ballots will need to be counted by hand, according to the release, something the government says will provide assurance of the integrity of the election results.

Local Authorities Election Act

The Local Authorities Election Act will be amended to allow local political parties, starting with a pilot project in Edmonton and Calgary. Local candidates won’t need to belong to a party but will have the option, Mr. McIver said.

Other changes included expanded use of special ballots, caps on union and corporate financial donations to local candidates, allowing municipalities to require criminal record checks of candidates, and requiring municipalities to have a permanent electors register that aligns with Elections Alberta.

Plebiscite changes will require third-party advertisers to register and report finances and will also ban donations from non-Albertans or non-Alberta companies and unions.

“We will be adding strict rules around eligible donations and public transparency and reporting will ensure that unions and corporations do not have disproportionate influence on local elections,” Mr. McIver said.

The legislation will also crack down on “vouching” which allows electors to step in and vouch or affirm a potential voter’s age, residence, and identity if that voter has no identification available. The practice allows individuals to vote simply by having someone else say they are who they claim to be. The changes will restrict vouching to affirming the voter’s address.

The legislation will remove the ability for a candidate’s official agent to object to a voter, as well as clarify the rules and processes for these types of scrutineers.

It will also require a recount if a candidate calls for it and if the margin is within 0.5 percent of the total votes.

Municipal Government Act Changes

Proposed changes to the Municipal Government Act include requiring councillors to take mandatory orientation training and allowing elected officials to identify real or perceived conflicts of interest without third-party review.

Changes will also see a councillor’s seat become vacant if disqualified, and allow cabinet to remove a councillor if deemed in the public interest. A referendum could also be called to determine if the councillor should be removed.

Other amendments will allow the municipal affairs minister to validate local recall petitions. Currently, a chief administrative officer holds that authority.

The changes will also allow cabinet to require local governments to amend or repeal bylaws, and direct municipalities about specific actions they need to take to protect public health and safety. It’s something Mr. McIver said he hopes never has to be used.

“There'll be updates to the federal government act to establish broad authority for the provincial cabinet to intervene swiftly but only when necessary to give direction when there’s a clear risk to provincial interests or to public health, safety,” he said at the conference. “It is our intention that such interventions will only be considered as last resort. My most fervent wish is that this authority is never ever used.”