A new report warns that threats against politicians are becoming more common because of extreme beliefs, personal anger, and false information.
The report from a government group trying to protect elections says that in Canada, there are more and more conspiracy theories, people don’t trust the government as much, and politics are becoming more divided.
Untrue ideas, false information and wrong information have spread to many people online. This is making people doubt science and government, and people in charge. That’s what the report says.
“Hateful language often focuses on politicians, especially women in the spotlight. ”
The Canadian Press used a law to get the report from a group that looks at threats to elections. Certain parts of the “Secret / Canadian Eyes Only” assessment were thought to be too delicate to make public.
A group was created in 2019 to keep our elections safe from other countries trying to interfere. It has people from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the RCMP, Global Affairs Canada and Canada’s cyberspy agency.
The report says that even though the task force mainly focuses on foreign meddling, they still see the importance of assessing domestic terrorism threats.
The group considered how much of a danger there might be from violence caused by political, religious, and ideological beliefs. It found that out of the three options, a Canadian federal election would be most likely affected by violent extremism based on ideology.
The report says there isn’t one simple way to understand extreme beliefs. Instead, people who pose a threat are motivated by various complaints, beliefs, and personal stories from all different political views, often influenced by conspiracy theories.
Complaints can be made worse by things like hating people from other countries, problems with how men and women are treated, or not liking the government.
It says that threats against politicians are highest during elections or big political events, but the RCMP data shows that the overall number of threats has been staying about the same since September 2021.
Extreme thinkers who are driven by their beliefs have been making more and more threats against well-known public figures when there is no election happening, according to the report.
Any dangers to the prime minister and other government officials that are reported to the RCMP are carefully looked at to see if they are a threat to the country’s safety. Between September 2021 and mid-2023, the RCMP found that 20% of threats against the prime minister and 13% of threats against parliamentarians were serious enough to be considered national security threats.
Extreme beliefs and untrue ideas can harm Canadian society even though they may not lead to serious violence.
The RCMP did not answer questions before the article was published.
Eric Balsam, who speaks for CSIS, said that the assessment for 2023 has not changed. CSIS director David Vigneault said that half of the spy service’s efforts to fight terrorism are focused on stopping violent extremism motivated by certain beliefs. He said this during a meeting with a House of Commons committee. “We have seen many ways that threats are growing,” he said.
The report says that anti-government extremists have used social media to make people believe that the Canadian government is corrupt.
6 insurrection will likely be seen as a key test for whether the most ferocious Republican rhetoric can filter down to the level of elections for state and local offices. The report says that the January 6th attack on the US Capitol has not affected Canadian politics.
The report said that until last June, the task force did not find any big cyber threats from other countries to Canada’s elections.
Political groups, people running for office, and their workers are still being attacked by online threats. This could be spying, spreading false information, or creating fake videos. This information is from the report.
In general, the task force says that very clever and widespread meddling efforts are a big threat to Canada’s national security and the honesty of its democratic institutions.
Some countries regularly try to interfere in Canada, especially during elections.
This kind of secret or tricky interference often happens in a legal area where there are no clear rules or the rules are hard to understand, the report says.
Canada is a top target for foreign interference because it has important relationships with other countries and organizations. Its strong reputation can be used to support the interests of other countries.
Furthermore, other countries find Canada’s smart and technology-driven economy appealing and want to learn from it, the report says. In Canada, there are many people from other countries and some of those countries want to keep an eye on, control, or use these communities to help their own goals.
“Other countries make friends with Canada all year to help their own politics, and will take advantage of these friendships, especially during elections. ”
According to a federal plan, important leaders of national security agencies would tell a special group of government officials if someone tries to interfere in an election.
If the panel decides that an incident or a series of incidents could harm Canada’s ability to have a fair election, they will make a public announcement.
There was no announcement in 2021 about the 2019 election. In both elections, the Liberals got the most seats but not enough for a majority, so they became the government with a minority. The Conservatives got the second most seats and became the official Opposition.
Claims of other countries trying to influence these elections – ideas supported by fueling.