The Star and BuzzFeed News are investigating the ways in which political parties, third-party pressure groups, foreign powers, and individuals are influencing Canada’s political debate in the run-up to this fall’s federal election. This is the second report. The first report can be found here. A clear majority of Canadians believe foreign governments — including our closest international ally — will attempt to “influence” the 2019 federal election. New polling conducted by Abacus Data and released exclusively to the Star and BuzzFeed News shows 60 per cent of Canadians believe it’s likely foreign governments will try to influence the results of this October’s general election. Where do most expect that influence to come from? Canada’s closest neighbour and ally, the United States. Most respondents (69 per cent) said it was either moderately, highly, or very highly likely the U.S. would attempt to influence the election, rating it as likely as interference from China. Abacus CEO David Coletto said that Canadians recognize the U.S. has as much interest in Canadian affairs as Beijing.“The U.S. has an interest in making sure that our government aligns closely with them as our number one trading partner and security partner, but I think (Canadians) also recognize other global powers are also looking to influence our allies and alliances as well.” Russia, which has been accused of active interference in multiple western democratic elections including the 2016 U.S. presidential, followed with 65 per cent of respondents perceiving them as a threat. “Influence” covers everything from a public endorsement — or a 140-character presidential put-down — to more serious clandestine activity.The Abacus online poll was conducted between Jan. 30 and Feb. 5, with 2,500 Canadians aged 18 and over. Abacus put the margin of error at plus or minus two percentage points, 19 times out of 20.In 2017 ...
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