Markham Coalition for Democracy stands up against foreign interference

12 diverse groups team up for greater transparency

Yorkregion.com
May 11, 2023
Yoyo Yan

In light of the escalating tension surrounding foreign interference, a dozen diverse groups joined hands to launch the Markham Coalition for Democracy for greater accountability and transparency in Markham and beyond.

“The threat of foreign authoritarianism against our democracy has been growing over the last number of years,” said Marcus Kolga, director of DisinfoWatch and senior fellow at Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad.

“The detailed national media coverage of allegations about foreign interference in our elections here in Markham were deeply disturbing,” said Kolga.

“As a global human rights and anti-corruption activist, I have friends and colleagues who have given their lives for freedom and democracy, and I feel that our democracy here in Markham needs like minded residents and our friends to stand up for it to overcome this crisis in our democracy.”

Kolga says that those who are alleged to have participated in these schemes should have those allegations formally investigated to help clear their names, if they're innocent or hold them to account if not.

The group puts its priority to stand up and defend our democracy against interference by foreign regimes and rebuild trust in our democratic system and long term resilience against anyone who seeks to undermine it.

“This means full and formal investigations into the very serious allegations that have been reported over the past six months and new legislation and policies that require transparency and accountability in terms of our elected officials, our democratic processes and foreign regimes that seek to influence them -- at all three levels of government,” said Kolga.

The group urges Markham and York Region to adopt a lobbyist registry to ensure transparency and accountability among all city councillors, regional councillors, school board trustees and public officials.

“Co-ordinating the many diverse groups that have agreed to join our coalition is simple: we all agree that our core democratic values are worth standing up for and that's what our coalition is focused on doing,” said Kolga.