Many Canadians will wonder just who the “malign foreign actors” will be trying to elect if, as the foreign minister fears, they try to meddle in Canada’s general election this fall. Chrystia Freeland made the warning at the G7 foreign ministers meeting in France. “We are very concerned,” the minister said in reply to a question. “I think our judgment is interference is very likely and we think there has probably already been efforts by malign foreign actors to disrupt our democracy.” While Freeland did not specifically mention Russia, Trudeau unloaded on the country when asked about the issue at an event in Toronto. “We have seen over the past number of years an increase in the interference or the implication of foreign actors in democratic processes. We saw very clearly that countries like Russia are behind a lot of the divisive campaigns, a lot of the divisive social media,” the prime minister said. Or, maybe Canada should be concerned about the old problem of Russian bum-shuffling its way to control of the Arctic Circle.
