BC Premier Asked Ottawa to Help Provincial Parties Vet Candidates for Foreign Influence Ties

B.C. NDP Leader David Eby arrives at a campaign announcement after the party released their election platform in Surrey, B.C., on Oct. 3, 2024. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

Amid heightened foreign meddling concerns, B.C. Premier David Eby asked the prime minister’s national security adviser if Ottawa could help political parties in his province vet names for nefarious foreign ties, records submitted to the Foreign Interference Commission show.

A list of questions Eby reportedly asked National Security and Intelligence Advisor (NSIA) Jody Thomas at a meeting was entered as evidence at the inquiry on Oct. 7. The undated document says that Eby “raised the topics of Foreign Interference; Election Security; countering fentanyl, organized crime, money laundering, corruption, and strengthening provincial and community security.”

Officials from the Privy Council Office, which houses the NSIA, told the inquiry they weren’t aware when the meeting took place and at whose request. Thomas retired in January 2024.

“Premier Eby asked if there was a mechanism for B.C. political parties to ‘check’ names with federal national security authorities for covert ties to foreign states or significant organized crime links,” says the PCO account of the meeting.

The document doesn’t mention what Thomas’s answers to Eby’s questions were, but it includes draft responses prepared by PCO.

“Federal security and intelligence agencies don’t conduct political party ‘checks’ as part of their legislated mandates,” says the document.

Eby had requested a briefing from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) in 2023 amid a series of intelligence leaks in the press depicting widespread interference by Bejing.

Eby expressed concerns over reports Beijing allegedly medded in Vancouver’s 2022 municipal election. His request followed a Globe and Mail article citing a secret 2022 CSIS report alleging that China’s former consul-general, Tong Xiaoling, used proxies within the local Chinese community to help elect a mayor and city councillor favoured by the Chinese Communist Party.

Eby also wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in June, requesting that CSIS share information to help fight foreign interference at the provincial level. The province is currently in an electoral campaign with residents going to the polls on Oct. 19.

The PCO document on Eby’s meeting with Thomas says the B.C. premier raised additional questions regarding elections and foreign interference, including whether he would be notified if any of his nominees or candidates had undue contact with foreign states. He also inquired about how he would be informed of any foreign state interference in provincial elections and how he should notify opposition leaders if such interference occurred.

“It’s unclear what authority the B.C. Premier has to request or be in receipt of this information,” PCO wrote in response. “Canadian political party candidates and nominees are accorded the same rights as all Canadians—including freedom of assembly and rights against unreasonable search and seizure.”

When asked about the responses to Eby, PCO assistant secretary to the cabinet Nabih Eldebs told the inquiry the newly passed Bill C-70, which addresses foreign interference, now empowers CSIS to share information beyond the federal government.

“I think that both the intelligence agencies, CSIS and CSE [Communications Security Establishment] have robust measures now, particularly after Bill C-70 had passed,” Eldebs said.