{"id":936162,"date":"2026-10-17T07:40:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T07:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/936162\/"},"modified":"2026-10-17T07:40:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T07:40:20","slug":"the-threat-from-outside-canada-winnipeg-free-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/936162\/","title":{"rendered":"The threat from outside Canada \u2013 Winnipeg Free Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 10-question referendum being held in Alberta on Monday, Oct. 19, is not the first time the unity of Canada has been threatened by a vote within one province. It is, however, the first referendum of this type to take place in an age of unfettered social media misinformation and deliberate foreign interference.<\/p>\n

From mischievous comments by U.S. President Donald Trump about making Canada the 51st state to technology trillionaire Elon Musk\u2019s urgings to Quebec and Alberta to separate, there are clear signs foreign interests are trying to influence Monday\u2019s vote. But there are also less-obvious efforts at work to influence the referendum and destabilize Canada.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and independent think-tanks such as the Centre for Artificial Intelligence, Data and Conflict at the University of Regina have documented incidents involving Russian-linked automated content farms posting thousands of misleading articles about the referendum campaign on social media platforms. The content, CSIS has said, focuses on erroneous claims about the benefits of separation and the liabilities of remaining in Canada.<\/p>\n

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JEFF MCINTOSH \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Mark Carney meets University of Calgary students on Oct. 15.<\/p>\n

In the face of all that activity, Prime Minister Mark Carney has been alarmingly unconcerned. Campaigning in Alberta this week, Carney said Ottawa is closely monitoring disinformation campaigns. He added that, in his conversations with foreign governments, all have agreed to stand down from any activities that might be perceived as threats to democracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur expectation is, to be absolutely clear, on foreign governments, United States included, is we don\u2019t get ourselves involved in their elections, they don\u2019t get themselves in our elections,\u201d Carney said.<\/p>\n

However, quite a few voices from across the political spectrum pointed out that officially sanctioned interference is hardly the only form of mischief that could disrupt the Alberta referendum. Yes, electoral interference can come from state-sponsored campaigns, but it also originates from freelance nihilists and digital terrorists who seek only to set fire to any election and then dance around the flames.<\/p>\n

The non-partisan Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), based in Waterloo, Ont., this week issued a stark warning that, based on all available evidence, there have been concerted efforts by foreign players to influence Monday\u2019s vote. Despite this evidence, few if any safeguards have been activated to protect the referendum\u2019s integrity<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n

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The CIGI noted that Ottawa has tools to not only track but also mitigate foreign interference online. The Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task force (SITE TF) is one such tool. However, CIGI noted that despite Carney\u2019s assurances, it appears SITE TF has not been activated in any meaningful way.<\/p>\n

Why would Ottawa hesitate to become actively involved in mitigating this kind of mayhem? All provinces, even those which harbour desires of a different relationship with Canada, surely share the same interest in preserving the integrity of elections.<\/p>\n

CIGI theorized that the SITE TF had not been more active in the referendum because it is being managed under provincial jurisdiction and Ottawa may be reluctant \u2014 in a referendum on possible independence \u2014 to be seen to be meddling in Alberta\u2019s affairs.<\/p>\n

CIGI recommended that, at the very least,
\nOttawa commit to a full and public accounting of all instances of foreign interference and its sources, if possible. \u201cWithout public transparency about the role played by foreign interference \u2026 there can be no confidence in the outcome of electoral processes.\u201d<\/p>\n

One can only hope \u2014 both for Alberta and for Canada \u2014 that foreign interference does not affect the turnout or the referendum results. Further, if it does play a role in the outcome, Ottawa cannot be shown to have been whistling by the social-media graveyard.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Dan<\/p>\n

Dan Lett
Columnist
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Dan Lett is a columnist for the Free Press, providing opinion and commentary on politics in Winnipeg and beyond. Born and raised in Toronto, Dan joined the Free Press in 1986.\u00a0 Read more about Dan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dan\u2019s columns are built on facts and reactions, but offer his personal views through arguments and analysis. The Free Press\u2019 editing team reviews Dan\u2019s columns before they are posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the our\u00a0tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 10-question referendum being held in Alberta on Monday, Oct. 19, is not the first time the unity…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":936163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44],"class_list":["post-936162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=936162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/936163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=936162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=936162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=936162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}