Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press

Canada's intelligence service warns that technological innovations adopted by municipalities could be exploited by adversaries such as the Chinese government to harvest sensitive data, target diaspora communities and interfere in elections.

A newly released report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service urges policy-makers and the technology industry to consider steps that can be taken to address and ease the emerging security threat before "smart city" platforms are widely adopted.

The RCMP is not investigating any allegations of foreign interference concerning the last general election, the federal deputy minister of public safety told a parliamentary committee Wednesday.

Shawn Tupper was appearing at the committee on procedure and House affairs, which is looking into accusations of Chinese meddling in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

The Liberal government has come under pressure in recent weeks to explain what Canada is doing about accusations of Chinese interference in the elections following leaks to the media from unnamed security sources.

A new academic analysis has identified at least 75 foreign digital operations of a malicious political or industrial nature directed at Canada since 2010 – from attempts to steal COVID-19-related research to the targeting of Uyghur human rights activists.

The report by researchers at the University of Quebec at Montreal’s Observatoire des conflits multidimensionals found cyberespionage accounted for more than half of these episodes.

A federal research unit detected what might be a Chinese Communist Party information operation that aimed to discourage Canadians of Chinese heritage from voting for the Conservatives in the last federal election.

The Sept. 13, 2021, analysis by Rapid Response Mechanism Canada, which tracks foreign interference, says researchers observed Communist Party media accounts on Chinese social media platform Douyin widely sharing a narrative that the Conservatives would all but sever diplomatic relations with Beijing.

A national freeze on importing, buying, selling or otherwise transferring handguns is a central feature of firearm-control legislation tabled Monday by the federal Liberals.

The measure does not ban handguns outright, allowing current owners to continue to possess and use them, but seeks to cap the number already in Canada.

"This is a concrete and real national measure that will go a long way towards keeping Canadians safe," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a news conference in Ottawa.

A new report says digital technology has become so widespread at such a rapid pace that Canadians have little idea what information is being collected about them or how it is used.

The report by David Lyon, former director of the Surveillance Studies Centre at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., highlights a need for more transparency in data collection and analysis, as well as new digital rights and means of ensuring justice for Canadians.

The federal Liberals are moving ahead on a special all-party, security-cleared committee to review documents related to the firing of two scientists from the national microbiology laboratory — even if the Conservatives continue to rebuff the plan.

Government House leader Mark Holland said Wednesday the NDP has agreed to the idea, and he hopes the Tories and Bloc Québécois will also participate.