CSIS braces for possible foreign interference as Alberta, Quebec eye sovereignty
Posted on: Nov 13, 2025 21:44 IST | Posted by: Cbc
With Canada veneer non single but 2 possible sovereignty referendums in the coming years, the head up of the country’s spy agency is bracing for the possibility that foreign adversaries could try to meddle in them.
Rogers was responding to questions about the prospect of referendums in both Alberta and Quebec on the issue of independence and emerging concerns that foreign adversaries could see them as fertile ground to interfere with a G7 country.
He said CSIS doesn't have a role in "Canadians exercising their opinion" but agreed the manipulation of information could be a vulnerability.
Rogers says anytime foreign adversaries seek to divide Canadians and amplify certain narratives is a concern for the spy agency.
“Our core job is looking at threats to the security of Canada, which includes foreign interference,” he said.
“We have to position ourselves to be able to identify those intentions and actions by foreign states.”
The sovereigntist Parti Québécois is pushing forward with a plan to hold a referendum if it forms government in next year’s election.
The party has launched two referendums on Quebec sovereignty — in 1980 and 1995 — and lost both. Leader St-Pierre Plamondon, who so far is leading in public polling, has promised to hold a third by 2030 if he’s delivered a win by voters.
Alberta is also in the throes of a heated debate on whether it should separate. Earlier this year Premier Danielle Smith’s government reduced the number of required signatures to hold a referendum in the province.
Thousands of Albertans rally in support of independence from Canada
Smith has said she wants a sovereign Alberta to stay within Canada but also says there is a growing number of Albertans who are unhappy with Confederation.
Concerns about foreign adversaries meddling in referendums largely stem from allegations that Russia tried to interfere in the 2016 Brexit referendum.
Rogers sat down with Power & Politics after delivering his first annual speech, in which he warned of both China and Russia’s “significant intelligence interest” in the Arctic.
China, he said, is seeking an economic foothold in the region, while Russia's Arctic posture "remains unpredictable and aggressive."
China also continues to target Canada's sensitive information.
"Chinese spies have tried to recruit Canadians with access to government plans, intentions, information and military expertise, through social media and online job platforms," he said.
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