Beijing is likely to try to use AI to interfere in the April poll, the Intelligence Agency of Canada suggests.
China and India are likely to try to interfere in future elections, Canadian intelligence agency added that Russia and Pakistan also pose a potential threat.
The deputy director of operations for Canada’s Security Intelligence Services (CSIS) said on Tuesday that the agency was supported for efforts to interfere in the April 28 vote. Ottawa’s relationship with China and India is particularly tense.
Vanessa Lloyd told a media conference that such countries are increasingly using artificial intelligence (AI) to interfere with elections around the world.
China is “highly likely to use AI-enabled tools to hamper Canada’s democratic processes in this current election,” she said.
India has the same “intention and ability” she continues, adding that Russia and Pakistan could potentially try to interfere.
“In many cases, it is extremely difficult to establish a direct link between foreign intervention activities and election outcomes,” the spy chief said. “Nevertheless, threat activity could erode public confidence in the democratic processes and institutional integrity in Canada.”
There’s nothing new
The accusations do little to improve the tense relations between Canada and China or India.
Ottawa recently condemned China’s use of the death penalty after Beijing said four Canadian citizens had been executed for drug smuggling charges.
Last year, six Indian diplomats were banished from Canada over allegations that they were involved in a conspiracy against the country’s Sikh separatists.
Asked about the CSIS warning, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry rebutted that Beijing has always resisted interference in foreign interior affairs and “has no interest in interference in Canada’s interior affairs.”
China and India have denied similar allegations from Canada in the past, only to have been hostile to the disputed relationship.
Ottawa reported in January that he interfered in elections in both 2019 and 2021. The Foreign Interference Commission said that interference is not a new phenomenon, but it is rising and the methods are changing.
Canadians head to the poll next month after Prime Minister Mark Kearney sparked the vote this week and tried to build Liberal Party momentum from the beginning of the year.
Trade wars
That momentum has been driven by the trade war unleashed by President Donald Trump.
However, Canada is also caught up in trade tiffs with China.
Beijing announced more than $2.6 billion in Canadian agricultural and food tariffs in early March in retaliation for taxation on Chinese electric vehicles and steel and aluminum products imposed last year.
The World Trade Organization said on Monday that Canada has launched a complaint against China.
A spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that Beijing’s “measures are completely reasonable and in accordance with the law.”
“We urge Canada to take concrete action to correct the wrong practices and provide normal trade and cooperation to businesses in both countries,” they added.
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