Bill S-237

Foreign Influence Registry and Accountability Act

An Act to establish the Foreign Influence Registry and to amend the Criminal Code

This enactment enacts the Foreign Influence Registry and Accountability Act , which imposes an obligation on individuals acting on behalf of a foreign principal to file a return when they undertake specific actions with respect to public office holders. It also provides for the establishment of a public registry in which all returns must be kept.
It also amends the Criminal Code to increase the sentence for intimidation if the offender acted on behalf of the government of a foreign state, and it specifies that anyone who has filed a return under the Foreign Influence Registry and Accountability Act is presumed to be acting on behalf of the government of a foreign state unless the contrary is proved on a balance of probabilities.

Public Safety

[Tim Uppal, Conservative, Edmonton Mill Woods, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I will begin by offering my sincere condolences to Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar's family. I also did so in person with his son soon after his assassination, an assassination of a Canadian on Canadian soil in the parking lot of a gurdwara.

At that time in June and now, we called on the RCMP for a full investigation. We call on the Indian government to act with utmost transparency in this investigation, because these allegations represent an outrageous affront to Canada's sovereignty.

Canadians must be kept safe from extrajudicial killings of all kinds, most of all from foreign governments. Canadians must be protected on Canadian soil. It is for this reason that Conservatives brought forward a foreign agent registry bill, Bill S-237, in November 2021, which continues to be blocked by the Liberal-NDP government. If this bill was passed two years ago when Conservatives proposed it, foreign agents working to intimidate, influence and even assassinate a Canadian citizen could have been stopped.

We must work together to protect Canadians from foreign interference and to ensure Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar's killers are brought to justice.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I want to express my sincerest condolences to the family of bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar on their loss due to this outrageous assassination.

In June, Conservatives called on the RCMP to conduct a full investigation into this murder, reiterated in strongest terms by the Conservative leader just last week. He said that Canadians, “must be safe from extrajudicial killings of all kinds, most of all from foreign governments” and called “on the Indian government to act with [full] transparency” in the investigation of this murder so the truth comes out.

Conservatives brought forward a foreign agent registry bill, Bill S-237, nearly two years ago and it is still being blocked by the NDP-Liberal coalition. Only Conservatives have brought forward any meaningful action on foreign interference. This registry would have exposed foreign agents operating in Canada on behalf of foreign governments.

The NDP-Liberals need to stop the talk and take meaningful action. They should join us in passing this bill immediately so Canadians and the sangat can feel safe. Those who assassinated bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar must be exposed and brought to justice.