Democracy not partisan matter

In 2015, Justin Trudeau promised the Liberals would make transparency “a fundamental principle across the federal government.” Yet even when it comes to allegations of Chinese election interference — an issue that should unite Canadians across the political spectrum against a common threat to our democracy — the prime minister insists on stonewalling and sowing partisan divisions.

At the beginning of November, Global News published a very serious report alleging that the prime minister had been briefed on a “vast campaign of foreign interference, which includes funding a clandestine network of at least 11 federal candidates running in the 2019 election.”

According to Global’s sources, CSIS had provided evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) funnelled around $250,000 to at least 11 pro-china candidates through an intermediary, placed agents in the offices of some MPS to influence policy and was seeking to gain leverage over parliamentarians and punish those who were working against Beijing’s interests through disinformation campaigns.

The prime minister was apparently concerned enough about the issue to raise China’s “interference activities” with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the recent G20 meeting in Bali. Yet upon his return, Trudeau has been less than forthcoming about what he, and our intelligence agencies, does or does not know.

Pressed on the issue by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre during question period on Tuesday, Trudeau sought to assure Canadians that the “integrity of our elections was not compromised,” saying that, “In the 2019 and 2021 elections, there was no foreign interference in a way that would have changed any of the results in any significant way.”

Poilievre rightly pointed out that, “The prime minister has used words to obscure the answer.” The question “was not whether the election was compromised,” he said, but whether officials “informed the prime minister of allegations of any interference in our elections.” Indeed, suggesting that Beijing successfully altered the result of a Canadian election is much different than saying it tried to interfere in an election, which is what the Global story alleged.

Even worse, last week, Trudeau tried to equate those who are concerned about possible threats to our democratic process and the susceptibility of elected officials to foreign manipulation to election deniers in the United States.

“We are seeing a little bit, at the moment, people playing games that we have seen south of the border, saying: ‘ah, the elections were not legitimate, we lost because of the influence of other countries,’ ” said Trudeau. “That is an extremely serious allegation.”

Yet that is not what any of our political parties are alleging. This is not a conspiracy theory, but a report from a credible news outlet. If Global got its facts wrong, Trudeau should say so, rather than playing word games.

The last thing we need is for the discussion to come down to whether or not China’s actions affected the election in a “significant way.” The health of our democracy and the integrity of our elected officials are at stake, yet the prime minister insists on treating Canadians as if they’re the opposing counsel in a court case.

Nor is this a partisan issue, as the Chinese have reportedly targeted both Liberal and Conservative candidates. A 2019 report from the national security and intelligence committee of parliamentarians looking into Chinese and Russian interference specifically noted that the “targeting occurs regardless of an official’s status in government or opposition.”

Perhaps Trudeau knows that some of the 11 candidates were Liberals and is trying to protect his party. Keeping any such information private will only fuel suspicions that the government has something to hide and undermine faith in the electoral process. Canadians have every right to know which candidates have been suspected of being co-opted by a foreign power and if any of them will be running in the next election.

Though the Global story was shocking, it was hardly surprising. The national security and intelligence committee, which examines classified documents, issued reports in 2019 and 2020 advocating for the government to develop a strategy to counter the “significant and sustained” foreign interference operations on Canadian soil.

In the months leading up to the 2021 election, CSIS issued a report warning that foreign actors were attempting to forge relationships with politicians and their staff, for the purposes of “influencing debate and decision-making within government.” To “promote awareness of foreign interference,” the spy agency then sat down with a number of MPS, including Michael Chong and Jenny Kwan, two vocal critics of Chinese government actions.

Following the election, two researchers at Mcgill University found evidence that incumbent Conservative MP Kenny Chiu had been the subject of a disinformation campaign on Chinese-language social media, in opposition to a private member’s bill he tabled to create a foreign influence registry that would have made it harder for the CCP to conduct operations in Canada. Chiu was ultimately defeated in the heavily Chinese-canadian riding of Steveston-richmond East.

Trudeau is correct that even if a concerted campaign launched by the Chinese government to discredit Chiu was a major factor in his defeat, this would not have been the deciding factor in the election. But that’s not really the point.

The point is that Canadians deserve to know the true extent of the foreign interference in our political system, and deserve a government that takes the issue seriously and is willing to do something about it.