Ottawa: Canada warned that China and India will probably try to interfere in their next general elections, while Russia and Pakistan also represent possible threats, according to the country's intelligence agency.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) made his comments at a time when Ottawa's relations with India and China remain tense. Beijing and New Delhi have denied the previous accusations of interference.
Canada took to respond to the attempts of China and India to interfere in the 2019 and 2021 elections, but an official investigation concluded in January that its interference did not affect the results.
Vanessa Lloyd, deputy director of Operations of CSIS, said at a press conference that hostile state actors used more and more artificial intelligence to end up the elections.
“It is very likely that the RPC (Popular Republic of China) use tools enabled for AI to try to interfere with the democratic process of Canada in these current elections,” he said.
Earlier this month, Beijing announced tariffs on more than $ 2.6 billion in Canadian agricultural and food products, taking reprisals against the taxes that Ottawa imposed on Chinese electric vehicles, steel and aluminum products last year.
Canada said last week that China had executed four Canadian citizens for drug smuggling charges, strongly condemning the use of the death penalty by Beijing.
Last year, Canada expelled six Indian diplomats, including the head of Mission, for accusations that they were involved in a plot against Sijs separatists on Canadian soil.
“We have also seen that the government of India intends and the ability to interfere with Canadian communities and democratic processes,” Lloyd said.
Chinese and Indian diplomatic missions in Ottawa were not immediately available to comment.
Russia and Pakistan could also carry out foreign interference activities against Canada, Lloyd added.
“It is often very difficult to establish a direct link between foreign interference activities and the results of the elections … However, such threats can erode public confidence in the integrity of the democratic processes and institutions of Canada,” he said.
