National Security Agencies, Elections Canada Set to Testify on Foreign Interference

Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), David Vigneault, adjusts a translation aid as he waits to appear before the Special Committee on Canada-People's Republic of China Relationship (CACN) on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Feb. 6, 2023. The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby

The head of Canada’s spy agency is among the witnesses expected at a parliamentary committee studying allegations of foreign interference in elections today.

Representatives from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the RCMP and Elections Canada will return to the House affairs committee, where some of them have testified before.

The director of CSIS, David Vigneault, is set to appear for the first time.

The committee heard Wednesday from national security adviser Jody Thomas and members of a task force that provides government officials with information about possible threats to elections.

At that meeting, New Democrat MP Peter Julian called for a public inquiry into foreign interference in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections—something the Bloc Québécois and Conservatives also want.