The matter is not new. Accusations of foreign interference in Canadian political life accompanied the last two legislative meetings, in 2019 and 2021. Tense elections. In 2019, the Liberal Party of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (in power since November 2015) came second in number of votes, behind the Conservative Party, but first in number of seats, due to the virtues of the majority system. At the head of a now minority government, Trudeau called early elections on September 20, 2021, two years before the deadline. This initiative, heavily criticized in the midst of a pandemic, did not change the situation: the Liberals only won three seats, and by collecting fewer votes than their conservative rivals.
A Chinese lobby
In both cases, interference in the electoral process was denounced on the part of foreign countries, and one in particular: China. It would have helped candidates who are favorable to him, and harmed those who are hostile to him, in particular by mobilizing the electorate from Chinese immigration – a significant segment since there are more than a million and a half Canadians from of Chinese origin, or around 5% of the population.
Justin Trudeau is criticized for having reacted weakly to these accusations; no doubt, assure his detractors, because his family and his party are considered to be well disposed towards Beijing since the historic trip that his father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, made there in October 1973, the first of a leader of Canadian government in Mao’s China. Trudeau had already made a first visit there in 1960 with his liberal friend Jacques Hébert, a journalist who adored Cuba. Returning subjugated, the two men published the story under the title… “Two innocents in Red China”.
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Interference without consequences
Justin Trudeau initially simply requested an investigation from Morris Rosenberg, a former president of the Trudeau Foundation whose impartiality has been called into question. He then forwarded the file to former Governor General of Canada David Johnston, but his report did not satisfy many people. It was only last September that an investigation was entrusted to judge Marie-Josée Hogue, who was to conclude that foreign interference did not have a significant impact on the electoral results of 2019 and 2021. He Nevertheless, she added, “foreign interference is widespread, insidious and harmful to Canada’s democratic institutions”.
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Yet this was without taking into account the damning report published Monday by the Committee of Parliamentarians on National Security and Intelligence (CPSNR or NSICOP). Based on the analysis of thousands of documents and testimonies, it establishes that foreign states not explicitly designated (we know that this is mainly China, but also India among others) have interfered in Canadian political life. They had elected officials and their families monitored, while parliamentarians lent themselves to collaboration, more or less consciously, in return for payment. Confidential information would have been transmitted to diplomatic missions. The Liberal Party was even said to have been infiltrated with a view to influencing the selection of candidates for the elections.
Names !
More and more voices are demanding the names of these “traitors”, but the authorities refuse to say which deputies and senators are incriminated, fearing to hand over to popular vindictiveness people whose guilt has not been established. And probably never will be because a trial would lead to compromising national security by revealing confidential information, it is argued in Ottawa. To calm things down, a bill is on the table to require the registration of individuals or entities who engage in lobbying on behalf of a foreign government. Some doubt its effectiveness.
Beyond the political storm, it is the famous Canadian multiculturalism that is in turmoil. Many politicians, especially within the Liberal Party, have an immigrant background and have established close contacts with the embassies of their country of origin. However, the very great tolerance shown to immigrants could have contributed to blurring the boundaries in the relationships to be maintained with the representatives of foreign governments who are not always well-intentioned.
