RCMP not investigating election meddling claims: deputy minister
The RCMP is not investigating any allegations of foreign interference concerning the last general election, the federal deputy minister of public safety told a parliamentary committee Wednesday.
Shawn Tupper was appearing at the committee on procedure and House affairs, which is looking into accusations of Chinese meddling in the 2019 and 2021 elections.
The Liberal government has come under pressure in recent weeks to explain what Canada is doing about accusations of Chinese interference in the elections following leaks to the media from unnamed security sources.
The Globe and Mail newspaper, citing classified Canadian Security Intelligence Service records, recently said China worked to help ensure a Liberal minority victory in the 2021 general election as well as defeat Conservative politicians considered unfriendly to Beijing.
The Globe said the spy service quoted one Chinese diplomat as saying Beijing likes it when Canadian political parties are fighting with each other, whereas if one has a majority, the party in power can easily implement policies that do not favour China.
The newspaper also said that, according to CSIS, Chinese diplomats are behind undeclared cash donations to campaigns, and have business owners hire international Chinese students and assign them to volunteer in election campaigns.
A recent Global News report cited anonymous sources alleging CSIS had urged senior Liberal party staff to rescind Han Dong’s nomination in a Toronto riding in 2019, but that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau approved his candidacy.
Dong, who won the riding for the Liberals in 2019 and 2021, said his nomination and campaign teams have found no indication of irregularities or compliance issues regarding his candidacy or election.
Tupper told MPs on the committee Wednesday that “the RCMP is not investigating any of the allegations that are arising from the last election.”
National security adviser Jody Thomas, who appeared alongside Tupper, said it’s very important to reassure Canadians “that the last two federal elections were fair and legitimate.” Canadians have questions about foreign interference attempts and officials will try to answer them in the most transparent way possible, within the limits of the law, Thomas said.
Walied Soliman, a lawyer who worked on the 2021 Conservative election campaign, recently said that the party was never notified about any threats to the electoral process. Despite this, he said the party saw “clear signs of tampering in ridings with substantial Chinese diasporas” that were “never taken seriously.”
China’s embassy in Ottawa has rebuffed accusations of attempted election interference in Canada, saying they are “baseless and defamatory” and harm diplomatic relations.
Ottawa has come under pressure to explain what Canada is doing about accusations of Chinese meddling in the last two federal elections