Opinion: Canada must confront the Kremlin’s agents at home

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Kalinin’s expulsion should have set a precedent — that diplomats who abuse their status to run disinformation warfare against Canadians will not be tolerated — but after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Canada stopped using expulsions as a tool through which to impose consequences.

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Canada does not need to sever diplomatic relations with Russia to act. It should review Russia’s diplomatic footprint, in close consultation with CSIS and allied intelligence services, and reduce it where officials are believed to be conducting intelligence, intimidation, disinformation or other activities incompatible with their diplomatic status. Diplomatic accreditation should not be a shield for hostile-state activity.

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Unfortunately, Ottawa has recently moved in the opposite direction. In August, Canada removed former senior Kremlin official Anatoly Chubais from its Russia sanctions list, restoring his admissibility to Canada, while saying on that there was “reasonable grounds to do so,” without elaborating.

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Estonia offers a useful model for what Canada should do. Shortly after Russian diplomats in Estonian helped organize the deadly 2007 Bronze Soldier riots in Tallinn, Estonia repeatedly denied entry in 2009 to Johan Bäckman, a Finnish Kremlin-aligned activist known for hostile, Stalinist attacks on Estonia and for denying the Soviet Russian occupation. In March 2022, Estonia expelled three Russian diplomats for directly undermining its security and spreading propaganda justifying Russia’s war. Weeks later, it expelled 14 Russian consular staff, including seven diplomats. And in August 2025, Estonia expelled a Russian Embassy first secretary for what its foreign ministry described as activities undermining Estonia’s constitutional order and seeking to divide Estonian society.

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Estonia has made it clear that foreign representatives who abuse their presence to undermine the state or target its society will face predictable consequences.

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Former Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves put it plainly when we asked him about the Ottawa incident: “We have seen similar behaviour by Russian ‘diplomats’ throughout Europe and indeed by the Russian embassy staff in Washington, D.C. as well. Foreign diplomats are not allowed to engage in political activity in the country where they are accredited. Vandalism already calls for a PNG designation.”

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Canada knows that a clear strong response to Russian intimidation is needed. In its formal response to a 2023 House of Commons recommendation, the government of the day agreed that Russian diplomats engaged in activities that are inconsistent with their official status should be expelled. It also noted that Canada can declare a foreign representative persona non grata under the Vienna conventions and is not required to explain that decision publicly.

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Canada should apply that standard now. Global Affairs Canada and CSIS should immediately confirm the identity of the individual in the video and any connections he may have to the embassy, and then review his diplomatic accreditation, activities and role at the Russian mission. His conduct captured on video all warrant scrutiny. If his activities are incompatible with his status or Canada’s security interests, he should be required to leave the country.

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Balloons on their own may be trivial; what Canada is prepared to tolerate from Vladimir Putin’s “diplomats” and agents is not.

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The new Canada–Ukraine defence partnership is an important investment in deterrence abroad. It should be matched by consequences for hostile Russian activity at home, including the expulsion of officials who abuse diplomatic cover. Moscow only understands strength and reacts to consequences. Estonia has learned to impose them. Canada should too.

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National Post

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Stanley Kutcher is a former Canadian Senator.

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Marcus Kolga is a Senior Fellow at the Macdonald Laurier Institute.

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