A newly released intelligence report says threats against politicians have become “increasingly normal” due to extremist rhetoric inspired by personal grievances and fueled by misinformation and deliberate lies. I’m warning you that there is.
The report, produced by a federal task force aimed at protecting elections, found that Canada’s violent extremist landscape is characterized by rampant conspiracy theories, growing distrust of the nation’s health, and deep political polarization. It is said that a change can be seen.
Unsubstantiated theories, disinformation and misinformation are spread to wider audiences, exposing online users to a vast network of narratives that undermine science, government systems and traditional authorities, the report says. Says.
“Violent rhetoric routinely clings to elected officials and is particularly hostile to high-profile women.”
The Canadian Press used the Access to Information Act to obtain a June 2023 report by the Taskforce on Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections. Some texts in the “Confidential/Canadian Eyes Only” rating were considered too sensitive for publication.
The federal agency, created in 2019 to protect the election process from foreign interference, includes representatives from the Canadian Security and Intelligence Agency, the RCMP, the Canadian Department of International Affairs and the Communications Security Agency, Canada’s cyber-espionage agency. It is included.
The report notes that while the threat of domestic terrorism is not strictly part of the Select Committee on Foreign Interference’s focus, “we recognize the need to provide an assessment on this issue.” There is.
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The task force considered the potential threat from violent extremism posed by politics, religion, and ideology. The report concluded that of the three elections, Canada’s federal election was “most likely to be affected” by ideologically motivated violent extremism.
The report states that there is no “one size fits all” worldview for ideological extremism. Rather, “threat actors” are driven by a variety of grievances, ideas, and highly personalized narratives that range from the traditional left to the right, and are often deeply influenced by conspiracy theories.
Complaints can be amplified by factors such as xenophobia, gender-related issues, and general anti-government sentiment.
Threats grow outside of campaigns
The report says threats against politicians peak during election cycles and major political announcements, but monthly and annual averages have remained relatively stable since September 2021, according to RCMP information. This has been shown to be the case.
Ideologically motivated violent extremists are “increasingly making threats against high-profile public figures outside of election periods,” the report concludes.
All threats against the Prime Minister and other members of Parliament reported to the RCMP will be triaged and assessed for national security relevance, the task force added. Approximately 20% of threats against the Prime Minister and 13% of threats against Members of Parliament reported from September 2021 to mid-2023 met the RCMP’s national security standards.
Although extremist rhetoric and conspiracy theories do not typically manifest in serious acts of violence, they “can have a negative impact on the fabric of Canadian society,” the report says.
RCMP did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.
CSIS spokesman Eric Balsam said the 2023 assessment “remains unchanged.”
CSIS Director David Vigneault told a House committee this month that the Office of Espionage devotes about half of its counterterrorism resources to investigating ideologically motivated violent extremism threats. “We’ve seen a lot of threat vectors increase,” he says.
The task force’s report says anti-establishment extremists will “almost certainly exploit” social media posts about foreign interference in Canada’s elections and “reinforce existing narratives about corruption within Canadian government institutions.” states that they are doing so.
However, the report notes that a narrative on the scale of the “stolen election” rhetoric that led to the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol has not emerged in Canada’s political landscape.
