Inquiry Says Canada Must Fight Foreign Meddling Before Election
(Bloomberg) -- An inquiry into foreign interference in Canadian elections is calling on intelligence agencies and the federal government to urgently reform how they respond to meddling by China, India and other state actors before the next national vote.
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Canada is expected to hold an election within months, and Commissioner Marie-Josee Hogue said about half of the 51 recommendations she makes in her final report should be implemented before citizens head to the ballot box.
“Trust in Canada’s democratic institutions has been shaken, and it is imperative to restore it,” Hogue said in the report released Tuesday. “The government must step up its efforts in educating and informing the public about foreign interference. So far, its efforts in this regard have been piecemeal and underwhelming.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau established the inquiry after media reports alleged China interfered with Canada’s 2019 and 2021 elections. Hogue’s report, based on public hearings and classified documents, concludes that while China and other countries attempted to meddle, the overall results weren’t impacted — both elections brought to power a minority Liberal government led by Trudeau.
Still, Hogue raises alarm about foreign interference and makes a sweeping set of recommendations to improve detection, reporting and transparency. They include that the government should develop a declassification system that allows it to reveal some secret information, and that it should create a point of contact or hotline for the public to report foreign interference.
She also says only Canadian citizens and permanent residents should be eligible to vote in nomination and leadership contests, and the government should consider creating a system of public funding for political parties.
No ‘Traitors’
Some of Hogue’s key findings run counter to media reporting that has rocked Canada’s capital of Ottawa. A report by a committee of parliamentarians in June 2024 made the bombshell claim that some Canadian lawmakers were “semi-witting or witting” participants in foreign meddling, prompting calls from journalists and members of Parliament alike for these individuals to be named.
Hogue says she found no evidence of “traitors in Parliament plotting with foreign states to act against Canada.” Although a few cases involving foreign officials attempting to curry favor with lawmakers have come to light, the phenomenon remains “marginal and largely ineffective.” She does, however, disclose that a former opposition member was suspected of working to influence parliamentary business for a foreign government.
Hogue also examines Canada’s expulsion of Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei in May 2023, an incident that at the time was widely portrayed as connected to alleged intimidation of Canadian Conservative lawmaker Michael Chong’s family in Hong Kong. Hogue says, in fact, the consensus view of the Canadian national security community was that Zhao was not involved in interference related to Chong. Instead, his ejection was part of a series of escalatory diplomatic steps to condemn China’s foreign meddling in general.
Hogue does identify some isolated cases where foreign interference may have impacted results of a nomination contest or an election in a specific district. These include the nomination of Han Dong, a Toronto-area lawmaker who stepped aside from the Liberal caucus after allegations arose that Chinese officials bussed in international students to support his candidacy. He denies involvement.
Hogue also found the Chinese government may have been involved in disinformation targeting the Conservative Party and one of its candidates, Kenny Chiu, during the 2021 election. She stressed that the evidence could not establish a definitive link and that the Tories shared her view that the meddling did not impact the overall election outcome.
“It is no exaggeration to say that at this juncture, information manipulation (whether foreign or not) poses the single biggest risk to our democracy,” Hogue said. “It is an existential threat.”
Disinformation Campaign
Hogue finds that India is the second most active country engaging in foreign interference in Canada. It uses disinformation as a key tactic that may be used more often in the future, and it may have attempted to clandestinely provide financial support to preferred candidates during the 2021 election without their knowledge, she writes.
India may have launched a disinformation campaign against Trudeau following his allegation that the country orchestrated the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil, Hogue also suggests. She says several media outlets aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi amplified this campaign, including narratives that Trudeau and Canadian institutions were “enablers of terrorism.”
Hogue also singles out Russia, Iran and Pakistan for engaging in foreign interference in Canada, albeit to a lesser extent.
Canada must hold a national election by October, but it is expected sooner. The Liberal Party is selecting a replacement for Trudeau as leader and prime minister by March 9. The new leader may choose to call an election at that point, or wait for one to be triggered by a non-confidence motion that opposition parties have promised to back soon after Parliament resumes March 24.
Another of Hogue’s recommendations is that all party leaders should be encouraged to obtain top-secret security clearances. Trudeau has criticized Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre — currently leading in the polls — for refusing to get his clearance. Poilievre has argued it would “muzzle” his criticism of the government as he wouldn’t be able to speak publicly about classified briefings.
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