Civil society groups say the federal government’s foreign agent registry legislation may be too vague and broad in its scope. That lack of specificity is raising concerns it may impact on solicitor-client privilege.
Introduced after Justice Hogue’s foreign interference inquiry found there was foreign interference during Canada’s 2019 and 2021 general elections, the Countering Foreign Interference Act, as set out in Bill C-70, aims to respond to interference threats by introducing new criminal offences, changing Canada’s spy agency, and increasing transparency and security within the electoral framework. It received royal assent on June 20.
In a briefing to the Senate’s national security committee, Kyla Lee, chair of the CBA’s Criminal Justice Section, expressed concern about “the potentially overbroad and vague nature of criminal offence created in Bill C-70.” She wrote that a foreign entity, as defined in the legislation, is not inherently criminal.
Lee noted that some of the bill’s language echoes what’s in the Criminal Code around terrorist and criminal organizations, neither of which should apply to a foreign entity, and that the bill has an overly broad ambit of the law as a result.
She also pointed to issues with s. 52.1(2)(i), which deals with the sabotage offence.
“This section vests the executive with the power to prescribe, through regulation, what constitutes ‘essential infrastructure’ for the purpose of the offence…More particularly, some political parties have been critical of, for example, foreign environmental group involvement in resource development,” Lee wrote.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association also sees this provision potentially suppressing legitimate protest, advocacy or dissent.
