Trudeau under attack for his dismissal of Chinese interference
THE Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has been accused by his allies of undermining the public’s faith in democracy by not agreeing to a full public inquiry into suspected Chinese election interference.
The Liberal leader faces a crisis which threatens to bring down his fragile government as lawmakers say that at best he is not taking the claims seriously and at worst has something to hide.
Canada’s Globe and Mail has citied anonymous security sources, saying Chinese diplomats and their proxies worked to defeat Conservative politicians considered more hostile towards Beijing in the 2021 election.
Mr Trudeau has been asked to explain whether Canadian security services warned his office that they had concerns Han Dong, an MP in his own party, had received support from the Chinese consulate in Toronto.
Han Dong has denied involvement in a foreign plot, even as another report said that intelligence services urged senior Liberal Party staff to rescind his nomination. China denies playing any part in election interference.
Mr Trudeau has repeatedly resisted calls for a public inquiry, instead announcing he will appoint an “eminent” Canadian as a special rapporteur into the issue of election interference.
The move has not gone down well, and he has lost the support of key allies in Parliament.
The New Democratic party leader, Jagmeet Singh, whose party is supporting the incumbent Liberals in a powersharing deal, said: “The prime minister is signalling that he’s not taking this seriously, and is being dismissive. And in his actions also is more and more seeming like there’s something to hide,
“It’s not helping Canadians have confidence in our democracy, in our electoral system, and it’s why it really cries out for a public inquiry. Let’s get those questions put to rest.”
Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative leader, said: “Trudeau knew Beijing was interfering in our elections and did nothing to stop it. He only seems to care about protecting himself and his party.”
The complaints are mounting at a crucial time for Mr Trudeau, with the US President Joe Biden visiting Ottawa later this month to discuss “defence cooperation” among other topics, and the government’s 2023 budget to be announced on March 28.
But suspected Chinese interference remains at the top of his inbox.
Last Thursday, Canadian Police
‘The prime minister is signalling that he’s not taking this seriously, and is being dismissive’
opened an investigation into allegations that two Montreal-area centres are being used as Chinese state-backed “police stations” to intimidate or harass Canadians of Chinese origin.
In an attempt to claw back some ground, Mr Trudeau has launched consultations on a plan to introduce a foreign agent registry.
“We are at a critical juncture when it comes to the security of our institutions,” the public safety minister Marco Mendicino said. “And now we’re taking another step in protecting them.”
The goal of the registry is to promote transparency in legitimate foreign state lobbying. It will also “mitigate foreign state activities that go beyond legitimate diplomacy”, he said.