The head of Canada’s intelligence service described his fight against the national security challenges posed by China, Russia, Iran and India on Thursday in his first public speech on the threats facing the country.
The normally guarded director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Dan Rogers, named the four countries as he catalogued the espionage and transnational repression efforts of Canada’s adversaries.
Russia has been spying on the government and private sector in the Arctic, trying to send intelligence officers to Canada and procuring goods in the country for its war in Ukraine, he said in his first annual speech.
China’s military and intelligence services are seeking “classified and sensitive Canadian government information” while working to gain a “strategic and economic foothold” in the Arctic, Rogers added.
Over the past year, the Iranian intelligence services have targeted several individuals they view as enemies, prompting CSIS to disrupt multiple “potentially lethal threats against individuals in Canada.”
India’s government, meanwhile, was named among a list of countries engaging in “transnational repression,” in which foreign states target activists, journalists and “cultural, ethnic and religious groups.”
“We’ve observed this in Canada in the form of surveillance; in the spreading of false and discrediting information; extortion; the threatening of loved ones abroad; and, at its most extreme, threats to safety and life,” he said.
“These actions have deeply harmful consequences for those targeted. They also intimidate others, deterring them from exercising their right to free speech and lawful advocacy, or from fully participating in their community or democracy.”
Rogers, who served as deputy national security and intelligence advisor before becoming CSIS director, called today’s geopolitical environment “more dynamic and unpredictable than at any other time in recent memory.”
“International relationships are shifting, and states are competing more intensely for economic opportunity and global influence. Our adversaries monitor and seek to exploit any weakness or division that may arise. It’s an environment where the value of intelligence is at its highest, and our adversaries will be more assertive than ever in trying to obtain it.”
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Rogers also called violent extremism fuelled by xenophobia, accelerationism, nihilism, antisemitism, misogyny and religion “one of Canada’s most significant national security concerns.”
Those involved are also getting younger, with nearly one out of 10 terrorism investigations now involving at least one subject under the age of 18, he said.
Driving extremism are “eroding social cohesion, increasing polarization, and significant global events,” he said, adding that radicalization is often happening online, without direction.
There have been 20 violent extremist attacks in Canada since 2014, resulting in 29 deaths, he said. At the same time, CSIS has disrupted two dozen “violent extremist actions” since 2022.
But the most striking revelations concerned Canada’s counter-intelligence efforts against foreign governments.
“In particularly alarming cases over the last year, we’ve had to reprioritize our operations to counter the actions of Iranian intelligence services and their proxies who have targeted individuals they perceive as threats to their regime,” he said.
“In more than one case, this involved detecting, investigating and disrupting potentially lethal threats against individuals in Canada.”
His comments on transnational repression also seemed focused on India, which Canada has accused of assassinating B.C. Sikh temple leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2023.
Global News reported last week that Canadian and British intelligence had intercepted communications implicating the Indian government in the murder and other plots.
“Canada is a country that thrives in its diversity and guarantees the individual rights and freedoms of all within its borders,” Rogers said.
“When foreign states don’t share our respect for these rights and feel threatened or embarrassed by the lawful activity of individuals in Canada, they sometimes resort to direct intimidation, influence or reprisal.”
This week, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand hosted her Indian counterpart at a G7 gathering in Niagara, prompting protests by Canadian Sikh groups that want New Delhi held to account for its transnational repression campaign against them.
International Trade Maninder Sidhu has also embarked on a mission to India this week, although the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has still not owned up to its role in the Nijjar killing.
“Canada’s partnerships must be based on respect for the rule of law and our sovereignty, not convenience. Accountability and security must come before trade,” the World Sikh Organization of Canada said in a statement.
Rogers also highlighted Russia’s illicit procurement networks that are trying to buy Canadian goods and technologies and move them to Russia through front companies around the world.
“Once in Russia, these Canadian products are then used to support Russian military efforts in Ukraine and elsewhere,” he said.
CSIS has been warning Canadian businesses about front companies operating in Europe that in fact connected to Russian agents, he said.
Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca
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