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The federal government has proposed that former British Columbia chief electoral officer Anton Boegman become Canada’s first foreign interference watchdog.
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree’s office has confirmed that Boegman’s name has submitted to recognized opposition parties and Senate groups. It is now waiting for their feedback.
It said the opposition parties have seven days to respond.
Boegman’s nomination comes a year and a half after Parliament voted to create the position of foreign influence transparency commissioner, as well as a foreign interference registry listing those who have made arrangements to work in Canada as agents on behalf of foreign governments.
It also comes a year after a foreign interference inquiry headed by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue concluded in its final report that transnational repression in Canada was a “genuine scourge” and that the People’s Republic of China was the “most active perpetrator of foreign interference targeting Canadian democratic institutions.”
Among the concerns that prompted the inquiry were that foreign powers have tried to influence the outcome of Canadian elections.
Boegman served as British Columbia’s chief electoral officer from June 2018 to November 2025. Since then, he has been working as an election management consultant, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He earned a BA from the Royal Military College in 1988 and an MBA from Athabasca University in 2001.
The appointment comes only days before Parliament’s standing committee on procedure and House affairs is scheduled to hear testimony on Tuesday from top public servants on the question of foreign election interference.