Trudeau Must ‘Do More’ to Counter Chinese Interference, Tories Say After Report on Election Meddling

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau must “do more” to safeguard Canada’s democracy from interference by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), say Conservatives, following allegations that the prime minister was aware of foreign interference in the 2019 federal election.

“Conservatives are extremely troubled by a recent media report that Canada has been a target of extensive foreign interference by Beijing in the 2019 election,” said Conservative MPs Michael Chong and Pierre Paul-Hus in a statement on Nov. 8.

“Intelligence officials informed the Prime Minister and several cabinet ministers about this interference in a series of briefings in January of this year,” the MPs wrote, adding that the federal government “must do more to protect Canadian democracy from foreign interference.”

“It’s long past time for the Trudeau government to come forward with a robust plan to counter Beijing’s foreign interference operations here on Canadian soil.”

The allegations stemmed from a report by Global News that intelligence officials warned Trudeau that they had detected “covert funding to influence election outcomes” and that at least 11 federal candidates, whose party affiliation wasn’t revealed, received funding from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the 2019 federal election.

The funds were allegedly sent to the candidates through an Ontario provincial MPP and a federal election candidate staffer who directly received the CCP funding.

“To our knowledge, the government has not expelled anyone for these interference operations in Canada, nor has anyone been criminally charged,” wrote Chong and Paul-Hus.

Trudeau responded to the allegations on Nov. 7, saying China continues to “play aggressive games” with Canada’s institutions and democracy.

“We have taken significant measures to strengthen the integrity of our elections processes and our systems,” he said. “We will continue to invest in the fight against election interference—against foreign interference—of our democracies and institutions.”

‘Exponential Expansion’

David Mulroney, Canada’s former ambassador to China, said on Nov. 8 that there has been an “exponential expansion” in recent years of Chinese operations directly targeted at undermining Canadian democracy.

“PM [Trudeau] was briefed about this ‘vast campaign’ in January but remained silent,” said Mulroney in a Twitter post on Nov. 8. “Then in June he expanded the team devising his China strategy to include people as stubbornly naive about the PRC [People’s Republic of China] as he is.”

“No doubt many promotions, bonuses at China’s consulate in Toronto,” he continued, referring to the Toronto-based Chinese consulate wherein an official covertly working on behalf of the CCP allegedly directed a campaign staffer to control and monitor the meetings of his candidate, according to the Global News report.

In 2020, Mulroney penned an “Open Memo to the Special Committee on Canada-China Relations” to voice concerns that Canada was ignoring Chinese efforts to “undermine democracy.”

“We were once a country that was willing to face up to such challenges. We need to find that courage again,” he wrote.

Sam Cooper, the Global News journalist who broke the report of Trudeau’s knowledge of Chinese election interference, said CSIS has “confirmed” that both Russia and China are actively seeking to influence foreign elections.

“The Chinese Communist Party … is using all elements of state power to carry out activities that are a direct threat to our national security and sovereignty,” said CSIS, according to a Twitter post by Cooper on Nov. 7.

Trudeau told reporters on Nov. 7 that the federal government is “creating new tools” to help Canadian intelligence agencies prevent future election interference.

“We are constantly working with our intelligence committees and officials,” Trudeau said.

Justina Wheale contributed to this report.