Election interference: Here’s what’s at stake for Canada’s federal parties as a monumental campaign begins.

By Staff

March 23rd, 2025

BURLINGTON, ON

Canada’s election security task force expected to be more vocal about possible foreign interference

A group of senior government bureaucrats tasked with warning the Canadian public about possible foreign interference during an election may be more vocal and less secretive in the upcoming campaign.

The Security Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force has been in place since the 2019 federal election and gathers the country’s national security agencies together to focus on identifying potential foreign interference.

The task force reports to what is called the “panel of five,” which includes the clerk of the Privy Council, the prime minister’s national security adviser and the deputy ministers of justice, foreign affairs and public safety. It’s these senior government officials who decide whether to go public with a warning to Canadians about possible interference, but they have used a high standard in past campaigns and only made public statements if they believe something “threatens Canada’s ability to have a free and fair election.”

Despite concerns about potential interference in individual ridings in the 2021 election, the panel never went public with any concerns in either that campaign or the 2019 race.

But a new guidance document from Privy Council clerk John Hannaford argues they may have to be more vocal this time. Hannaford wrote the new proposal in January and it opens up the possibility of more announcements.

And, once again, the whims and will of Washington loom over Canadian politics. But this time there are much greater abilities to sway or swing the outcome.

Trump and his 51st state grin.

President Trump has already involved himself in the is election.  Trump claimed on Friday that he “totally changed” Canada’s political landscape ahead of the coming federal election — one that will play out against the backdrop of American economic aggression and Trump’s repeatedly stated desire to annex the country.

In his latest foray into Canadian affairs, Trump took credit for the resurrection of the federal Liberal party’s electoral fortunes, days before Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to trigger a snap national campaign that all parties were buzzing Friday to prepare for in Ottawa.

“Just a little while ago, before I got involved and totally changed the election — which I don’t care about … the Conservative was leading,” Trump told reporters Friday at the White House.

There is going to be much more interference; we are going to have to learn to recognize it and see it for what is it.  Our existence as a country depends on it.