Inside Policy
June 30, 2023
From the editors
For years MLI has warned Canadians that China was the ‘Dragon at the Door’ of Canadian democracy. Recent leaks from Canada’s intelligence community surrounding Chinese interference in Canadian elections thrust the issue of foreign interference into the spotlight of Canadian media. The government’s response to these leaks has been inadequate. Obfuscation, stonewalling, and deflecting anger towards the intelligence community has been the order of the day.
To lead our cover feature we are pleased to include a piece from Charles Burton and Kaveh Shahrooz. Burton and Shahrooz explore the reluctance of Canadian politicians to respond to the threat of foreign interference and they denounce the wrongheadedness of the claim that calls for a Foreign Influence Registry Act are motivated by racism. Ryan Alford further explores why NSICOP is ill-suited to investigate Beijing’s electoral interference and makes a strong argument in favour of a public inquiry.
In addition, Alexander Dalziel and Henri Vanhanen explore what Canada can learn from its new NATO ally, Finland. Alex and Henri make clear that Finland is adapting the darkening geopolitical realities while Canadian leaders seem unable to galvanize support for increased attention to security, defence and foreign policy.
Looking towards the Middle East Tzvi Kahn contributes an insightful article on Canada’s unwillingness to recognize Iran’s role in Gaza terror or designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization.
Richard Shimooka explains the need for Canada to move forward in procuring a functioning, modern submarine fleet. Ann Fitz-Gerald and Jason Donville encourage Canada to look to the war we are already fighting: a cyber-war.
Turning to Canada’s energy policy, Heather Exner-Pirot contributes an assessment of the ineffectiveness of the Impact Assessment Act and its chilling effect on investment in Canada’s natural resources.
Ken Coates and J.P. Gladu detail the important purchase of a $1.12-billion stake in seven Alberta pipelines to First Nations and Métis communities.
On the domestic file, Josh Dehaas argues that rather than bullying people into wearing the pride flag, we need a return to respectful dialogue and liberal-democratic values and Aaron Wudrick and Will Rinehart assess the direction of Canada’s competition policy.
Finally, this edition closes out with two excellent pieces touching Canada-US relations. Christian Leuprecht and Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera argue that closing the Roxham Road loophole is a benefit to all migrants. Lawrence L. Herman charts a course for Canada to avoid surprises in the upcoming round of North America trade negotiations.
