By The Canadian Press on April 5, 2024.
OTTAWA – A federal inquiry into foreign election interference is expected to scrutinize the work of the task force that was responsible for monitoring and reporting threats to Canada’s last two elections. The task force is designed to bring security and intelligence agencies together to guard against foreign meddling during federal election campaigns. Members of the task force are expected to testify at the inquiry’s latest public hearing in Ottawa today. Earlier this week the commission heard from political party officials who received confidential briefings from the task force in 2021. They criticized those briefings as being high level and non-specific, and said they were never alerted to active threats during the last election. The commission is also expected to hear testimony from Allen Sutherland, who serves as assistant secretary to the cabinet for the Privy Council Office. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 5, 2024. 8