Editor's note: This article originally appeared on ParliamentToday, a Village Media newsletter devoted exclusively to covering federal politics.
Federal officials say Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s eyebrow-raising comments to U.S. outlet Breitbart earlier this month do not rise to the level of foreign interference and are therefore not being investigated.
Privy Council Office (PCO) assistant secretary to cabinet communications and consultations Laurie-Anne Kempton told Hill reporters Monday that her team is “aware” of Smith’s remarks, which have dominated the opening days of the election campaign.
“They don't meet the definition of interference, so we are not looking into them,” Kempton told reporters when pressed about Smith’s interview.
In the Breitbart interview, Smith said the tariffs were benefiting the Liberal Party of Canada politically and she had asked U.S. officials to “put things on pause” so Canada can have a general election.
Some experts have called her remarks “improper.”
In the same interview, Smith said a government led by CPC Leader Pierre Poilievre would be “very much in sync with the new direction in America.”
Smith’s office has since slammed assertions that she asked the U.S. to interfere in Canadian democracy as “offensive and false."
Kempton's comments came after chief electoral officer Stéphane Perrault made a similar point.
Perreault said there are several provisions in the Canada Elections Act that “may be relevant to foreign interference,” including rules around undue influence by foreign entities and spending by third parties. He said the situation involving Smith does “not trigger any of these,” so it is not being looked at by his agency.
That didn’t stop NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh from denouncing Smith’s remarks as “shameful,” telling Montreal reporters it was akin to the premier “going off and trying to cut deals that hurt political parties” she may not be friendly toward.
“She's talking about taking steps to harm the Liberals and to prevent tariffs in a political manner to create a political outcome. She should be talking about stopping tariffs to protect Canadians, to just stop them entirely,” Singh added.
Carney echoed his criticism and said that Smith agrees Poilievre “sounds a bit familiar” to U.S. President Donald Trump.
For his part, Poilievre simply said that “people are free to make their own comments” before reiterating that Trump prefers a Liberal in power because he “knows that a weak, out of touch Liberal government, given a fourth mandate, will only make Canada a bigger target for him.”
'Balancing act'
Kempton made the comments alongside several government officials promising to be more "proactive" in monitoring foreign meddling efforts from countries like China, Russia, India and Pakistan while sharing as much information with voters as possible over the five-week campaign.
Allen Sutherland, assistant secretary to cabinet who focuses on democratic institutions, said that notifying Canadians about such incidents is a balancing act because Ottawa must weigh the need to be transparent with Canadians while avoiding action that could jeopardize national security or put "human assets" at risk.
Sutherland appeared to throw cold water on concerns that X owner Elon Musk is engaging in meddling by making public endorsements of conservative figures and amplifying political messages on his social media platform. The NDP has flagged that possibility and called for an investigation.
“It’s an expression of his personal opinion. It's definitely not clandestine. It's very public by its very nature,” Sutherland said. “Our trust is with Canadians that they can separate what is truthful and what may not be truthful and what should be listened to and what should be ignored.”
Next month’s election comes after foreign interference commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue flagged in her reports that there are weaknesses in how Ottawa notifies the public about foreign interference attempts, which prompted the federal government to consider lowering the threshold for public alerts.
Hogue’s report found that meddling did not impact the overall results of the last two elections, though it’s possible the results in select ridings were affected by such efforts.
On Monday, Sutherland said that while the 2019 and 2021 elections saw no need for a public announcement, officials this time around will be “a little bit more proactive in calling out smaller instances, less impactful instances, of misinformation and disinformation."
“The idea of transparency is the best sunlight. This is something that helps Canadians make an informed decision and together with the other reports … Canadians can get a fuller picture,” he said.