Did you know that, because of loopholes in laws across Canada, there are a dozen ways it is legal for foreign governments to interfere in Canadian politics in secret?

And did you know that the heads of almost all the anti-foreign interference enforcement agencies, including the RCMP, are chosen by the ruling party Cabinet and/or can be fired by the Cabinet at any time for any reason?

Please sign and share this petition now to call for key changes to close all the loopholes and make enforcement independent, effective, transparent and accountable!

Your support is also needed now to keep this campaign going until all these key changes are won to Stop Foreign Interference in Canadian Politics.  Please click here now to donate.

The federal government and other governments across Canada are considering what measures are needed to stop interference by China, Russia, Iran and other countries to influence our elections and politicians.  The federal government has proposed some changes to laws, and Parliament has enacted some of the changes, but the changes do not close key loopholes that allow for foreign interference, and the enforcement system is still much too weak, ineffective, secretive and controlled by the ruling party Cabinet.

The Hogue Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference is also examining what changes are needed to stop foreign interference.  Democracy Watch is participating in the Hogue Inquiry and will submit this petition to the Inquiry as part of its effort to convince Inquiry Commissioner Justice Hogue to recommend all the changes needed to close all the loopholes that allow for secret foreign interference, and to make enforcement independent, effective, transparent and accountable.

Please sign and share this petition to the Prime Minister and all federal party leaders calling for key changes to Stop Foreign Interference in Canadian Politics – changes that will:

1. Require anyone who has any kind of arrangement with a foreign government or foreign-controlled entity to try to influence politics in any way anywhere in Canada to disclose in an online, searchable database their activities and who is paying them and how much they are being paid.
2. Stop the influence of wealthy, big money interests (especially big multinational businesses and industry associations) on elections and government policies by lowering the annual donation and loan limit to an amount average voters can afford, prohibiting anyone or any entity from paying any expenses of any contestant or candidate, and setting limits on spending aimed at influencing elections and policy-making processes for lobby groups based on the actual number of voters that support them, and prohibit Canadian owned/controlled-businesses and industry associations from spending money on ads or political activities aimed at affecting policy or elections, and prohibit foreign owned/controlled businesses and industry associations from doing any such political activities.
3. Reverse the federal Commissioner of Lobbying’s and House Ethics Committee’s changes that gutted key federal ethical lobbying rules in ways that allow lobbyists to essentially bribe MPs and federal party leaders.
4. Prohibit lobbyists and lobbying businesses and groups from colluding with people who are trying to be nominated as an election candidate or campaigning to be the leader of a political party.
5. Have election agencies run nomination and party leadership contests, so that parties can’t rig the results, and only allow citizens who are 18 or older and registered voters to vote in nomination and leadership contests (same as in elections).
6. Prohibit false claims in elections and during policy-making processes by prohibiting anyone and any entity from having a social media account that is anonymous and does not identify the person or entity behind the account, and by prohibiting all false claims including prohibiting Internet, social media and all other companies from allowing fake videos and audio files to be posted on their sites and prohibiting TV, radio and telecommunications companies from allowing the transmission of a fake audio or video (especially that imitate politicians and public officials), and penalize anyone who posts a false claim.
7. Require the disclosure of all donations, and all spending by candidates, parties and lobby groups, and disclosure of the identities of their campaign staff and anyone who fundraised or did significant volunteering for them, updated before voters vote, and empower the election agency to audit the disclosures, donations and spending of candidates, parties and lobby groups.
8. Require politicians, their staff, and all government appointees and employees to disclose details about their finances and other jobs and private interests and connections, and prohibit them from having investments in businesses or financial interests or liabilities or jobs connected with any foreign business, entity or government, and prohibit them from participating in decisions when they have even the appearance of a conflict of interest, including by furthering the interests of a foreign government, individual or entity.
9. Close all the loopholes that allow for secret, unethical lobbying, and require disclosure of how much each lobby group spends on lobbying, and who funds them, and prohibit foreign-owned/controlled businesses and business/industry associations from all lobbying activities except making public, written submissions to the government and testifying before parliamentary committees.
10. Prohibit lobbyists and lobby groups from paying for interns or other staff in politicians’ or political party offices, and prohibit politicians and public officials from accepting any gifts or benefits, including removing the exemption in the Criminal Code and in any ethics code that allows them to accept a gift or benefit if their boss approves it.
11. Close all the loopholes that allow for “beneficial ownership” of any business across Canada that hides the identity of the actual owners, and require lawyers to report suspicious transactions to Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC).

The petition also calls for the following key changes to ensure independent, effective, transparent and accountable enforcement of the 11 Stop Foreign Interference rules listed above:

1. Create fully independent commissions whose members are appointed through independent, merit-based processes to enforce all anti-foreign interference rules, and require all the commissions to issue a public ruling/report right after they review or investigate any situation, and empower all the commissions to impose on violators significant fines, multi-year bans on participating in elections and policy-making processes, and jail terms for the most serious violations, and allow any member of the public to challenge any decision or ruling of these commissions in court.
2. Establish a new, fully independent anti-foreign interference/anti-corruption police force with the head and senior officers appointed for a fixed-term through an independent, merit-based process, and with well-trained, specialized investigators and prosecutors, and require the force to investigate all allegations of foreign interference and corruption and report publicly on the results of every investigation (whether or not anyone is prosecuted).
3. Make the RCMP and Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) fully independent from Cabinet, with the heads of the RCMP and FINTRAC appointed for a fixed-term through an independent, merit-based process, and with FINTRAC reporting to the new anti-corruption police force not to a Cabinet minister.
4. Increase the penalties for anyone and any entity involved in foreign interference or corruption activities, including money-laundering.
5. Prohibit all police forces, and police officer unions, and all entities that enforce any law, from doing fundraising, including through a foundation or other organization, or giving grants to individuals, businesses or other organizations, and from holding events where anyone can pay to have access to police officers.
6. Establish a best-practice whistleblower protection system that protects anyone who blows the whistle on violations of any anti-foreign interference rule, including empowering the independent commissions to pay for a lawyer to advise whistleblowers of their rights, to reward whistleblowers if their claims are proven, and to protect them from retaliation and penalize anyone who retaliates against them.

Please also click here now to sign on to Democracy Watch's letter-writing campaign calling for the same key changes.

Your support is needed now to keep this campaign going until all these key changes are won.  Please click here now to donate.

For more details:

DWatch calls on inquiry to call key witnesses, ask key questions during fact-finding phase (Democracy Watch news release, March 28, 2024)

House Committee leaves huge loopholes and weak enforcement system in so-called anti-foreign interference Bill C-70 (Democracy Watch news release, June 12, 2024)

Police (not RCMP), election and ethics commissioners must issue public rulings on all foreign interference investigations (Democracy Watch news release, June 27, 2024)