The Canadian government has identified Pakistan as one of the countries potentially involved in foreign interference within the nation. This revelation surfaced in documents presented last week to the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions, chaired by Justice Marie-Josee Hogue.

Canada's Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force, in an undated document, prepared and provided to Elections Canada's head Stephane Perrault, highlighted concerns regarding foreign interference.

According to the document cited by the National Post, while China is the primary concern and surpasses other countries, challenges persist in addressing other nations, including Pakistan.

The version of the submission seen by the outlet contained redacted information concerning Pakistan. It noted that countries such as Russia and India had not shown a significant threat to the election process. The document also mentioned that India's focus was on countering perceived threats within Canada.

Allegations of foreign interference by Pakistani officials are not new. In August 2018, a recording emerged wherein the then Pakistan consul-general in Toronto, Imran Siddiqui, was heard threatening a Canadian journalist. In the recording, Siddiqui purportedly directed his remarks towards Tahir Aslam Gora, the head of the multi-cultural TAG TV network, suggesting that journalists like Gora would need to cooperate "if they want to survive".

At one point in the conversation, conducted in both Urdu and English, Siddiqui mentions Gora and remarks, "We are working on a treatment." He employs the Urdu term 'ilaaj' or treatment to denote addressing Gora, indicating that such actions are not being carried out overtly.

Regarding journalists perceived as anti-Pakistan, Siddiqui asserts, "Journalists have freedom, they can say whatever they want... We too have the freedom to do whatever we need to."

He further states, "There is a treatment, and it is being carried out... the treatment is being administered gradually as the issue has spread."

In response, Howard Anglin, who served as deputy chief of staff to Canada's former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, remarked that Justin Trudeau's government "should have the courage to expel the diplomats involved, as other governments have done when Pakistani diplomats crossed legal or diplomatic boundaries."

According to a source familiar with the matter, during Harper's tenure, there was an incident involving a serving Pakistan consul-general in Toronto who was reportedly asked by Ottawa to leave the country for allegedly interfering in Canada's internal affairs. However, the diplomat in question was not named, nor was he expelled or declared persona non grata. Instead, he was instructed to depart Canada promptly.

In January, the Public Inquiry expanded its scope to include India. It requested that the Government of Canada collect and produce documents pertaining to alleged interference by India in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

Image source: Hindustan Times