Canada expects foreign meddling in October election, Chrystia Freeland says

[Jarnhamar]

Canada expects foreign meddling in October election, Chrystia Freeland says
Canadian Global Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Friday it was likely that foreign actors would meddle in the country's October elections, and her British counterpart said a deterrent to stop countries like Russia from interfering was critical.

U.S. intelligence officials and the governments of some European Union countries have accused Russia of interfering in their elections in recent years, allegations strongly denied by Moscow.

When asked whether she was worried Russia would interfere in the election, Freeland said she was "very concerned."

"Our judgment is that interference is very likely and we think there have probably already been efforts by malign foreign actors to disrupt our democracy," she said, speaking at a media freedom event on the sidelines of a G7 foreign ministers meeting in France.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-expects-meddling-chrystia-freeland-1.5085900

If Freeland is very concerned then so am I.

I'm going to go ahead and forecast Russian interference to blame for unflattering Liberal numbers.

Maybe the Liberal government will come up with a plan to combat the Russians. Maybe the PMO can control the media and what stories are considered true and what's fake news/Russian actors?

:

 

[OldSolduer]

And if the Conservatives win the Liberals have a scapegoat. Never mind that they shot themselves in the foot

 

[blacktriangle]

Russia would prop up Trudeau and his band of incompetent gender-balanced merrypeople. If for no other reason than cheap entertainment...  op:

 

[ModlrMike]

In other news, water is wet.

 

[daftandbarmy]

If Freeland is very concerned then so am I.

I'm going to go ahead and forecast Russian interference to blame for unflattering Liberal numbers.

Maybe the Liberal government will come up with a plan to combat the Russians. Maybe the PMO can control the media and what stories are true and what's fake news/Russian actors?

:

I hope we'll get some foreign interference. At least it's proof that someone, somewhere on the planet, knows that Canada still exists.

 

[FJAG]

I hope we'll get some foreign interference. At least it's proof that someone, somewhere on the planet, knows that Canada still exists.

Or actually cares about how our election turns out.

;D

 

[SeaKingTacco]

I see. When Tides foundation and other foriegn ENGOs "interfered" in the 2015 election and the Liberal Party benefitted, that was just "diversity of opinion" and "freedom of speech in action".

Suddenly, the Liberal Party is worried about foriegn intervention for the 2019 election.

Betcha the first Liberal ad has the Conservatives colluding with Russia...

 

[Sub_Guy]

Betcha the first Liberal ad has the Conservatives colluding with Russia...

They will post it on their website, leave it up for a few days.  News outlets will air it, folks will spread it on social media, then they will take it down and apologize.

Similar to the “Soldiers in our streets” ad they ran back in 2006.

 

[brihard]

Neither Russia nor China are happy with us these days. I think it’s quite reasonable to expect that they stand to gain from stirring up discord within our electorate as the election approaches. As is well documented from the US, Russia in particular stirred up all kinds of crap with fake accounts and advocacies on both sides. Not necessarily with the intent of one particular side winning over the other, but rather discord for discord’s sake. Canada is no less vulnerable to social media manipulation, and we have plenty of our own hot button issues. Anything that weakens Canadian government is beneficial to our geopolitical adversaries. This would be the case regardless of what was happening domestically in our politics right now.

 

[Rifleman62]

On August 16, 2017 the Toronto Globe and Mail reported Soros is a “close friend” of Freeland, and that with her he has “very great hopes for Canada”. Before she decided to run for parliament, the newspaper says Freeland had a “deal” for “a sort of authorized biography of George Soros”. Soros’s spokesman in New York, Laura Silber, refused to answer repeated questions last week for clarification of the terms of this deal or the compensation Soros agreed with Freeland.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

Neither Russia nor China are happy with us these days. I think it’s quite reasonable to expect that they stand to gain from stirring up discord within our electorate as the election approaches. As is well documented from the US, Russia in particular stirred up all kinds of crap with fake accounts and advocacies on both sides. Not necessarily with the intent of one particular side winning over the other, but rather discord for discord’s sake. Canada is no less vulnerable to social media manipulation, and we have plenty of our own hot button issues. Anything that weakens Canadian government is beneficial to our geopolitical adversaries. This would be the case regardless of what was happening domestically in our politics right now.

Oh, I get it, Brihard. The threat is real. I just find it irritating that political parties are happy to tolerate/benefit from the discord, as long as it suits their aims.

There is clear evidence that the Petroleum industry in Canada has been and continues to be targetted in a coordinated fashion from elements foreign to Canada in a manner that threatens jobs (just not the kind of jobs Liberals care about, I guess) and Canada's economic well-being.

 

[chrisf]

Similar to the “Soldiers in our streets” ad they ran back in 2006.

https://youtu.be/uMsqEph7a8I

In case anyone forgot.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Of course the liberals are expecting foreign interference.

You have to expect what you pay for. Right?

 

[Fishbone Jones]

On August 16, 2017 the Toronto Globe and Mail reported Soros is a “close friend” of Freeland, and that with her he has “very great hopes for Canada”. Before she decided to run for parliament, the newspaper says Freeland had a “deal” for “a sort of authorized biography of George Soros”. Soros’s spokesman in New York, Laura Silber, refused to answer repeated questions last week for clarification of the terms of this deal or the compensation Soros agreed with Freeland.

There are also a number of reports floating around that she still owns the apartment that nazi's gave to her grandfather for his service. The original family appears to have disappeared and there's no one to contest it.  :dunno:

 

[Jarnhamar]

Neither Russia nor China are happy with us these days. I think it’s quite reasonable to expect that they stand to gain from stirring up discord within our electorate as the election approaches. As is well documented from the US, Russia in particular stirred up all kinds of crap with fake accounts and advocacies on both sides. Not necessarily with the intent of one particular side winning over the other, but rather discord for discord’s sake. Canada is no less vulnerable to social media manipulation, and we have plenty of our own hot button issues. Anything that weakens Canadian government is beneficial to our geopolitical adversaries. This would be the case regardless of what was happening domestically in our politics right now.

 

That's fair. The Russians and Chinese might make some face Facebook accounts and, as you say, cause discord.

Do you think the bigger threat is from Russians and Chinese trolling us during or election, or, the Liberals using the threat of foreign interference to manipulate Canadian voters.

In the same manner they've tried to manipulate other things like "domestically sourced crime guns" or "SNC job loss".

 

[Brad Sallows]

People should start distinguishing between "interference" and "influence".

Hacking voting machines is interference.  Social media trolling is influence.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Oh, I get it, Brihard. The threat is real. I just find it irritating that political parties are happy to tolerate/benefit from the discord, as long as it suits their aims.

There is clear evidence that the Petroleum industry in Canada has been and continues to be targetted in a coordinated fashion from elements foreign to Canada in a manner that threatens jobs (just not the kind of jobs Liberals care about, I guess) and Canada's economic well-being.

As always, the greatest threat to Canadian economic and political well being is always from our 'Friendly Neighbours' to the south. The 'Reds under the bed' are, more likely than not, actually 'red, white and blue':

Opinion: The Great American conspiracy to sabotage Canadian oilpatch
https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-the-great-american-conspiracy-to-sabotage-canadian-oilpatch

U.S. foundations funding Canadian anti-pipeline protests: fair or foul?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/anti-pipeline-american-funding-protest-conspiracy-theory-1.4987202

 

[Cloud Cover]

I would think it would be in the interests of Russia and China to keep the Libs in power rather than a known hostile party such as the Conservatives.
Anyway, here is the latest CSE report released this morning: https://cyber.gc.ca/en/guidance/2019-update-cyber-threats-canadas-democratic-process

 

 

[Cloud Cover]

And to protect Canadians from the crazy right, Facebook has banned Faith Goldy: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/facebook-faith-goldy-ban-alt-right-1.5088827

Looks like 8Chan is all she has left.

"Facebook works with various academics and organizations around the world to determine which ones are hate organizations."

 

[ModlrMike]

Not that I agree with them, but Facebook is a private entity, and is entitled to ban or broadcast whomever they choose. Now, if a government had any hand in that action... that's a completely different issue.