Latest news with #foreigninterference
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
NZSIS head reminds ethnic communities to be vigilant about foreign interference
Andrew Hampton, director-general of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service. Photo: RNZ / Liu Chen The head of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) has reminded people to stay vigilant to foreign interference and ask questions if in doubt. About 300 ethnic community leaders from across the country gathered in Auckland on Saturday for the fourth Ethnic Advantage Conference organised by the Ministry for Ethnic Communities. The discussions were centred around social cohesion with foreign interference as one of the featured topics. In a panel discussion, director-general of NZSIS, Andrew Hampton, explained what foreign interference was and reminded people to be vigilant. Ethnic community leaders at the Ethnic Advantage Conference on 28 June, 2025. Photo: RNZ / Liu Chen Hampton said remembering democratic principles could be helpful, for example, people can have different views but working for a foreign state to influence New Zealand was problematic. He said community leaders had an important role to play in maintaining dialogue between each other and sharing information. His department would continue to build trust and relationships with the ethnic communities, Hampton said. "It's not a destination, it's a journey, but the consequences of us not continue this journey are dire when it comes to national security." NZSIS would continue to shed light on foreign interference, provide information to community leaders, make sure the department was accessible and approachable, and its workforce reflected the communities, Hampton said. Mark Mitchell and ethnic community leaders at the Ethnic Advantage Conference. Photo: RNZ / Liu Chen Mark Mitchell, the minister for ethnic communities said New Zealand can't be naive and believe that it's invincible from foreign inteference. "We do have countries that try to interfere with their diasporas," he said. "But here in New Zealand, we have to make sure as a government we're doing everything we can do to protect them and to call out those nations when they engage in that sort of behavior." Speaking of social cohesion, the minister called for people to endorse peace and tolerance. Mitchell said with the current geopolitical tensions, New Zealand was facing serious headwinds and was in a more challenging environment compared with decades ago. Ethnic community leaders at the Ethnic Advantage Conference. Photo: RNZ / Liu Chen "One of the primary messages that we have had ministry and myself, is that we're entering a phase now where our conversation should be around social cohesion and peace and tolerance," Mitchell told the audience. He alluded to the Destiny Church march in central Auckland a week ago, and said people should be united, condemn and not buy into the provocation it tried to incite. He said New Zealand should be proud of where it was but people needed to make sure they don't lose ground. "...Recognising always the ability to engage in peaceful protest and freedom of speech, but with that comes great responsibility, and with that also comes a clear message to do it whilst in a peaceful and tolerant way." Individuals should also take responsibility for the way they receive and process information, as there was a lot of disinformation and misinformation around, he said. Chief executive at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, Mervin Singham Photo: RNZ / Liu Chen Chief executive at the ministry, Mervin Singham, said social cohesion and countering foreign interference are interconnected. "From my perspective, the first line of defense [against] foreign interference is community cohesion," Singham said. "So if people in New Zealand, wherever they come from in the world, if they feel they belong here, they matter, they enjoy the equitable environment that they live in..., then they will be less susceptible to being influenced to doing things that they shouldn't in this country and that's not in the interest of New Zealand." Singham said people could be a little bit nervous about this topic because their connection with a foreign country or their sense of pride in their country of origin. "What we don't want as the panel just discussed is people becoming involved in coercive activities that are not in the interest of the country," he said. "For example, stealing intellectual property, not for New Zealand's interest, for foreign state or pressuring people to doing things that they don't want to do, but they feel they're obliged because of the threat of oppression from an offshore state." There were resource tools on the ministry's website which people could use to educate themselves about the topics, for example where to go to report an interference, Singham said. Soon, the tools, launched earlier this year, would be available in 30 languages, he said. "They might be able to be more vigilant about how influence is slowly leading into interference, those sorts of things. This is where the power of the community lies." Community advocate Eva Chen. Photo: RNZ / Liu Chen Community advocate Eva Chen said the discussion on foreign interference was a good reminder, but more information and clarity was needed from the government. "I always felt that the topic of foreign interference is far away from our day-to-day lives but today hearing from the panel, I got to know that it isn't that far away." However, she would appreciate more guidance from the officials about the specific activities and what kind of information they need from the community. "It's good that we're reminded to be vigilant, but for grassroots people like us, it feels far away and something that isn't likely to happen... we might not know how to be vigilant." Chen agreed social cohesion and foreign interference were interlinked. "If we're living in a loving society, being helpful to each other, then there is less likelihood of foreign interference. "However, if we have our own agendas... especially when the New Zealand government is not providing us with enough resources, and we need to seek help from the outside world, we might be susceptible to foreign interference when we're not vigilant enough." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
CBC
4 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
Election watchdog saw major spike in complaints during spring campaign
The independent body that enforces Canada's election laws is reporting a massive spike in complaints from people concerned about the integrity of this year's election. The Commissioner of Canada Elections received seven times the number of complaints about this spring's vote than the previous two, according to preliminary data. "The volume and diverse nature of the complaints we received demonstrates Canadians' engagement and awareness of the [Elections] Act, as well as their confidence in our ability to help ensure the integrity of the electoral process," Commissioner Caroline Simard said in a news release on Wednesday. Overall, Simard's office received just over 16,000 complaints during the campaign period — compared to just under 1,800 in 2021 and roughly 2,600 in 2019. Even accounting for what the organization calls an "amplification phenomenon" where a single issue can result in thousands of complaints, the number of Canadians raising concerns was twice as high as the previous two campaigns. Over the past few years, Ottawa has been seized with concerns about foreign interference in elections. Those concerns came to a head during a public inquiry led by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, who released her final report in January. CBC News also previously reported on an internal briefing note prepared for Simard ahead of the spring vote that flagged artificial intelligence as a "high" risk for the campaign. Despite concerns of both foreign interference and artificial intelligence, Simard said in Wednesday's news release that her office received fewer complaints than expected regarding those two issues. "While my office did receive complaints regarding allegations related to foreign interference, the use of artificial intelligence and disinformation, it was certainly not of the magnitude we anticipated in most cases," her statement said. "So far, based on our initial observations and the information we have, there is no evidence to suggest that the election outcome was affected in any way." But the news release said more concerns about AI and foreign interference could be revealed as complaints are further studied. A large chunk of the complaints fell outside of Simard's mandate, according to the preliminary data. A significant portion were also related to election advertising.
CTV News
4 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
No evidence federal election was affected by foreign interference, commissioner says
Commissioner of Canada Elections Caroline Simard is pictured on Parliament Hill Thursday, March 2, 2023 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld OTTAWA — Canada's elections commissioner says she has no evidence the result of the federal election in April was affected by foreign interference, disinformation or voter intimidation. In a preliminary report today, Commissioner Caroline Simard says her office received more than 16,000 complaints about the spring campaign which ended on April 28. That number is seven times the number of complaints received in the 2019 and 2021 elections. Still, early numbers show the volume of complaints for foreign interference, artificial intelligence, disinformation, and voter intimidation, was less than what Simard's office had expected. Other complaints included allegations of preventing election advertising from being broadcast, distributing pictures of ballots, or publishing false statements about candidates. Through April, Simard's office had already closed about 2,300 files. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 25, 2025. Nick Murray, The Canadian Press
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Minister 'concerned' about Iranian terrorist cells in Canada after U.S. airstrikes
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says she's deeply concerned about foreign interference by Iran's regime and the possibility of Tehran activating terrorist sleeper cells on Canadian soil after U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Anand was asked about a Globe and Mail report quoting former Liberal justice minister Irwin Cotler, who warned Iran could use these cells to commit acts of violence in Canada against critics of Iran's regime like himself. "In addition to Mr. Cotler's remarks, we are very concerned about foreign interference including the types that were highlighted by him," Anand told Canadian media while in the Hague for the NATO summit. "And we're very concerned about the Iranian regime, generally speaking." Cotler, a human-rights advocate, revealed last year he was under police protection for his own safety. He said the RCMP told him it thwarted a plot by agents of Iran's regime to assassinate him. WATCH | In the U.S., FBI officials are on high alert for Iranian sleeper cells made up of terrorists or spies who often go undetected, living normal lives in Western countries until they are called on for service, CBS News reported. Iran sent private messages to the U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of his Saturday strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities warning that they would respond with terrorist attacks in the U.S. carried out by sleeper cells in the country, NBC reported. The Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism advisory on Sunday telling the public that if Iran's leadership called for retaliation, the likelihood would increase that violent extremists could independently mobilize to commit violence. Former Canadian national security analyst Stephanie Carvin says Canadians shouldn't panic because the terrorism threat level hasn't changed in Canada and Iran has signalled it wants to de-escalate. "I'm not sure what purpose would be served at this time by conducting a violent extremist attack or some kind of sabotage campaign, if in fact, they are looking for some kind of cessation of hostilities," said Carvin, who is an associate professor at Carleton University. But Carvin says there is concern in the intelligence community that threat actors affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) could be living in Canada with some kind of cover story while working on behalf of the Iranian government — or with the ability to do so. She warns these threat actors often aren't "sleeping," because even if they're not involved in an active plot, they're still often involved in threat-related activity. Those activities include money transfers, espionage, transnational repression, terrorist activity or sabotage campaigns against targets in Canada, she said. "The idea that they're just somehow dormant I think is very wrong," she said. "These individuals are trained to engage in numerous activities." When asked what action the government is taking to protect Canadians from any potential Iranian terrorism, Anand said Canada listed the IRGC as a terrorist organization last year and cut diplomatic ties over a decade ago. "We will continue to take any possibility of foreign interference extremely seriously, and that is underscored by the work that we will advocate for here at NATO, as well as the work that we were doing at the G7," Anand said. Anand also said she had an "unprecedented call" with her Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on Saturday before the U.S. airstrikes. Her office believes it's the first call of its kind since François-Philippe Champagne did so years ago. He held the foreign affairs portfolio until January that call, Anand said she urged Iran to allow Canadians to leave the country safely, de-escalate the conflict with Israel and return to the negotiating table. She also reaffirmed that Canada is still seeking accountability for Iran's downing of Flight PS752 that killed 55 Canadians and 30 permanent residents in 2020, she said. Lawyer Kaveh Shahrooz says his concern over Iranian sleeper cells in Canada is "certainly heightened now" and he is "more alert than ever." He's also a human rights activist who is critical of Iran's regime and says he's reported threats and being monitored to Canadian authorities before. He's concerned Iran's regime could try to send a message to its critics abroad including in Canada to let them "know that it remains in charge." "Iran's regime has been humiliated internationally," he said. "It's been defeated militarily. And so I think it's looking for different ways of asserting its own power and dominance to some extent against the West." WATCH Vancouver human rights lawyer Mojdeh Shahriari is the co-founder of StopIRGC, a grassroots group that tracks suspected Iranian regime members in Canada. She says they have passed on more than 90 names to national security agencies to investigate since 2022. She fears that more senior Iranian officials will flee Iran because of the conflict with Israel and seek safe haven in Canada. She says there are already hundreds of regime affiliates and IRGC members she believes have settled in Canada. She calls this a "slow-moving monster" that's only going to speed up. "My concern is as the regime weakens, they are going to use Canada as their future home more and more," she said. "This has already happened. It's going to accelerate." After years of pressure to act, in 2022 the federal government designated the Islamic Republic of Iran as a regime that engaged in terrorism and systemic and gross human rights violations under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. That designation made some Iranian regime members inadmissible to Canada. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) says it has cancelled the visas of more than 130 suspected senior Iranian regime members trying to come to Canada since the 2022 designation. WATCH | : To date, out of the 20 people CBSA reported inadmissible to Canada for being a senior official in the Iranian regime, only one has been removed from the country. Three people in total have been issued deportation letters after Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada rulings. Majid Iranmanesh was one of the senior Iranian officials given a deportation order last year. A transcript of the Immigration and Refugee Board's hearing said Iranmanesh was a director-general in the vice-presidency of information and technology, just a few levels away from Iran's president. The board concluded he fell within the top 50 per cent of the hierarchy of the Iranian regime, the transcript said. The board also expelled Seyed Salman Samani, Iran's former deputy interior minister, from Canada, the Immigration Refugee Board says. Afshin Pirnoon, a former director general in Iran's roads ministry, is also facing an Immigration and Refugee Board hearing after the CBSA caught him living in Canada and claimed he was a senior official with Iran's regime. Six other cases are ongoing. CBSA would not provide the identity of the individuals citing privacy concerns.
CBC
5 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
Foreign affairs minister 'very concerned' about Iranian sleeper cells in Canada
Social Sharing Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says she's deeply concerned about foreign interference by Iran's regime and the possibility of Tehran activating terrorist sleeper cells on Canadian soil after U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Anand was asked about a Globe and Mail report quoting former Liberal justice minister Irwin Cotler, who warned Iran could use these cells to commit acts of violence in Canada against critics of Iran's regime like himself. "In addition to Mr. Cotler's remarks, we are very concerned about foreign interference including the types that were highlighted by him," Anand told Canadian media while in the Hague for the NATO summit. "And we're very concerned about the Iranian regime, generally speaking." Cotler, a human-rights advocate, revealed last year he was under police protection for his own safety. He said the RCMP told him it thwarted a plot by agents of Iran's regime to assassinate him. In the U.S., FBI officials are on high alert for Iranian sleeper cells made up of terrorists or spies who often go undetected, living normal lives in Western countries until they are called on for service, CBS News reported. Iran sent private messages to the U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of his Saturday strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities warning that they would respond with terrorist attacks in the U.S. carried out by sleeper cells in the country, NBC reported. WATCH | What comes next in the war?: What's Iran's next move? 15 hours ago Duration 6:07 The Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism advisory on Sunday telling the public that if Iran's leadership called for retaliation, the likelihood would increase that violent extremists could independently mobilize to commit violence. 'Unprecedented' call When asked what action the government is taking to protect Canadians from any potential Iranian terrorism, Anand said Canada listed Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization last year and cut diplomatic ties over a decade ago. "We will continue to take any possibility of foreign interference extremely seriously, and that is underscored by the work that we will advocate for here at NATO, as well as the work that we were doing at the G7," Anand said. Anand also said she had an "unprecedented call" with her Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on Saturday before the U.S. airstrikes. Her office believes it's the first call of its kind since François-Philippe Champagne did so years ago. He held the foreign affairs portfolio until January 2021. WATCH | Anand shares topics discussed with Iran: Anand speaks about 'unprecedented' call with Iranian foreign minister 2 hours ago Duration 1:49 Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said she spoke with her Iranian counterpart to help ensure Canadians' safety in Iran, push for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict with Israel and advocate for the victims of flight PS752. Canada has not had diplomatic relations with Iran since 2012. On that call, Anand said she urged Iran to allow Canadians to leave the country safely, de-escalate the conflict with Israel and return to the negotiating table. She also reaffirmed that Canada is still seeking accountability for Iran's downing of Flight PS752 that killed 55 Canadians and 30 permanent residents in 2020, she said. Growing concerns about Iran's regime in Canada Vancouver human rights lawyer Mojdeh Shahriari also shares Cotler's concerns about sleeper cells being activated in Canada. She said like any other terrorist organization, their members blend into the community and have regular jobs like anyone else. "They're ready to go when needed so that will be based on instructions that they might get from the regime directly from IRGC commanders," she said. Trump unilaterally declares Iran-Israel ceasefire 15 hours ago Duration 5:53 U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally announced an unexpected ceasefire between Israel and Iran on Monday, hours after Tehran fired missiles at an American military base in Qatar. But the future of any deal is uncertain with Iran saying Israel must comply. Shahriari is the co-founder of StopIRGC, a grassroots group that tracks suspected Iranian regime members in Canada. She says they have passed on more than 90 names to national security agencies to investigate since 2022. She fears that more senior Iranian officials will flee Iran because of the conflict with Israel and seek safe haven in Canada. She says there are already hundreds of regime affiliates and IRGC members she believes have settled in Canada. She calls this a "slow-moving monster" that's only going to speed up. "My concern is as the regime weakens, they are going to use Canada as their future home more and more," she said. "This has already happened. It's going to accelerate." 3 Iranian officials issued deportation letters After years of pressure to act, in 2022 the federal government designated the Islamic Republic of Iran as a regime that engaged in terrorism and systemic and gross human rights violations under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. That designation made some Iranian regime members inadmissible to Canada. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) says it has cancelled the visas of more than 130 suspected senior Iranian regime members trying to come to Canada since the 2022 designation. WATCH | CSIS investigating alleged death threats from Iran: CSIS investigating death threats from Iran against people in Canada 3 years ago Duration 2:04 To date, out of the 20 people CBSA reported inadmissible to Canada for being a senior official in the Iranian regime, only one has been removed from the country. Three people in total have been issued deportation letters after Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada rulings. Majid Iranmanesh was one of the senior Iranian officials given a deportation order last year. A transcript of the Immigration and Refugee Board's hearing said Iranmanesh was a director-general in the vice-presidency of information and technology, just a few levels away from Iran's president. The board concluded he fell within the top 50 per cent of the hierarchy of the Iranian regime, the transcript said. The board also expelled Seyed Salman Samani, Iran's former deputy interior minister, from Canada, Global News has reported. Six other cases are ongoing. CBSA would not provide the identity of the individuals citing privacy concerns.
