Intelligence task force to monitor Liberal leadership race

Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council Nathalie Drouin appears as a witness at the Public Order Emergency Commission in Ottawa, Friday, Nov. 18, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA — The Liberal party’s leadership race will be monitored by Canada’s elections intelligence task force for signs of foreign interference.

National security adviser Nathalie Drouin says the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force will be watching the race.

She says that while leadership campaigns are conducted by individual political parties, they play a crucial role in maintaining the integrity of our democratic processes.

The task force, set up in 2019 to protect the electoral process from foreign interference, includes representatives of CSIS, the RCMP, Global Affairs Canada and the Communications Security Establishment Canada.

The Liberal party announced last week the vote to choose its next leader, and by extension Canada’s next prime minister, will wrap up on March 9.

The party also took measures to curb voter fraud in its leadership race by limiting voting to party members who are permanent residents or citizens, or have status under the Indian Act.

The party’s old rules allowed anyone who resided in Canada to vote in its leadership races, regardless of whether they had citizen or resident status.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 13, 2024

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press