Russia Not a Significant Interference Threat to Elections, but Remains a Risk: CSIS

The Kremlin in Moscow in a file photo. Mladen Antonov/AFP via Getty Images

Russia is not a significant threat to Canada’s elections though it remains a risk, says a country summary document compiled by Canada’s security and intelligence agencies, including with input from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).

“The Russian Federation continues to pose an FI threat to Canada, although it is likely not currently a significant foreign interference (FI) actor in relation to Canadian federal elections,” reads the document released at the Foreign Interference Commission in Ottawa on April 4.

“Russia has the capability to escalate its disinformation and interference operations to target Canada and its allies through social media and other platforms.”

Former CSIS assistant director Cherie Henderson, who recently retired from the service, made similar comments at the inquiry on the same day.

“Russia has a significant capability to augment its interference and disinformation campaign should it choose to do so. So while we may not have seen as much to undermine the 43rd [2019] and 44th [2021] elections, should it choose, it has the capability to engage in much greater interference in the future,” Ms. Henderson said.

The foreign interference inquiry was formed largely due to leaks from CSIS that warned of interference by the Chinese Communist Party in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections but the scope of the inquiry was broadened to cover interference from other countries as well.

According to the intelligence report, Russia does carry out disinformation operations againt NATO and Five Eyes alliance member states. The report says Russia’s primary purpose is to undermine the perceived dominance of the United States in global affairs and to shape public attitudes toward the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which the report says is expected to continue.

The document also notes that Russia’s disinformation efforts against some Western nations have subsided in recent years.

“In recent years, Russia’s FI and disinformation operations against some Western countries have been reduced, although Russian state-linked actors have continued their attempts to engage in some FI activities,” the summary document says.

The intelligence summary on China released at the inquiry says Beijing is the most active regime compared to others when it comes to foreign interference in Canada.

“The resources that the PRC [People’s Republic of China] expends on these activities exceed those of other states,” the document says.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) removed Russian state-controlled RT and RT France from the list of non-Canadian programming services authorized for distributions in Canada in March 2022 in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Human rights activists, such as Hong Kong groups, have called on Canada to similarly ban China’s state-owned media in Canada, including CGTN. So far, none have had their broadcasting licenses pulled by the CRTC.