Hon. Stan Kutcher: Honourable senators, my question is for Senator Gold.

Although Russian-driven or -supported disinformation, designed to destabilize our democratic system of governance, is now more visible to Canadians, it has been here for some time.

Over the pandemic, it has increased in sophistication, intensity and volume. Disinformation is coming from RT, which was described by its editor-in-chief as an “information weapon,” and other sources as well. During this pandemic, much of its output has been focused on anti-vaccination and anti-public health messages. It has become linked to various conspiracy theories, such as Chinese social credit and the new world order. It has skilfully fanned pandemic fatigue, promoted anger-driven spread of disinformation and supported actions directed against our democratic institutions.

According to Marcus Kolga of the MacDonald-Laurier Institute, the aim has been to harness public anxiety and fan it toward chaos and even sedition. Indeed, we are seeing this type of disinformation starkly in the recent statement on the invasion of Ukraine issued by the Embassy of the Russia Federation in Canada.

Senator Gold, what is the Government of Canada doing to actively counter the spread of Russian-supported public health disinformation?

Senator Kutcher: Senator Gold, Andrew Nikiforuk, an investigative journalist, recently called attention to a potential link between the Ottawa occupation convoy and Russian-supported disinformation, pushing anti-vaccine and anti‑public‑health messages and demands to overthrow the Canadian government. What is being done to fully investigate this concern? Will this be part of the mandate of the Emergencies Act review committee? What should we, as responsible parliamentarians, be doing to address this issue?