MLI senior fellow Marcus Kolga was invited to testify before the Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans.
The Committee had observed that disinformation campaigns influence public perception of Canada's seal harvest. Marcus was specifically asked to speak to how Russian disinformation functions in Canada and how it can be combatted.
"My research has shown that the Russian Government has used used state controlled media to manipulate information about the seal hunt over the past years."
Russia has engaged in these disinformation campaigns with two primary objectives: "to denigrate Canada's international reputation... to provoke doubts about Canada's commitment to environmental sustainability..." and "to promote Russia as responsible global environmental leader and a protector of indigenous populations."