Fréchette blames CAQ staff for handling of foreign interference claims

CAQ leader says employee should have consulted her before speaking to journalists

Coalition Avenir Québec Leader Christine Fréchette blamed members of her own party for trying to get journalists to pursue a story about foreign interference in the electoral process as she tried to distance herself on Monday from a controversy that has dogged her on the election campaign trail for days.

The latest comments come after Fréchette walked back comments on Friday warning that American operatives may be trying to help the sovereigntist Parti Québécois get elected in order to destabilize the Canadian federation.

While Fréchette initially pressed for an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney to discuss her concerns on Friday morning, she ended the day by issuing a statement confirming there was no evidence of foreign interference in the ongoing provincial election campaign.

But she was forced to address the issue again on Monday following a news report by Radio-Canada that revealed someone in the Coalition Avenir Québec had spoken to journalists about foreign interference before they told her, and before the party had informed federal authorities.

"I think it was ill-advised," Fréchette told journalists in Mont-Tremblant. "Considering the sensitive nature of the subject, it should have been run by me before speaking to journalists."

Fréchette and Domestic Security Minister Ian Lafrenière said that the party had addressed the leak internally.

"That initiative wasn't orchestrated by anyone," Ian Lafrenière said on the set of Radio-Canada in the morning. "We made sure that the person who took that initiative wouldn't be able to do so again."

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The CAQ allegations were focused on some essays published by a U.S.-based think tank, the Defense Analyses and Research Corporation, that called for Americans to stoke division in Canada to destabilize the Canadian federation.

Fréchette added that the employee who had contacted journalists about the essays was still working on her team.

Fréchette also confirmed on Friday that her party had contacted and met with Canadian Security Intelligence Service in the past week to discuss the possibility of interference.

In an email to The Canadian Press on Friday, CSIS said they briefed the province's political parties on the risks of foreign interference in June.

"This approach is in line with our current practices, under which we provide briefings to any political party across the country when we learn that elections have been called at the federal or provincial level, with the aim of protecting our democratic processes and increasing resilience to threats," wrote CSIS spokesperson Eric Balsam.

Federal intelligence agency contacted as U.S. interference claims swirl in Quebec election

Fréchette's rivals were quick to criticize her handling of the interference claims. On Sunday, Quebec Liberal Leader Charles Milliard and PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said the affair disqualified Fréchette from leadership.

Leaders have a week left to pitch to voters ahead of election day on Oct. 5.

The second and final day of advance polling is scheduled to end at 8 p.m. on Monday.