The House of Commons on Thursday called for the launch of a public and independent inquiry into allegations of foreign interference in the elections.
A motion was passed to that effect. The day before, new allegations prompted MK Han Dong to withdraw from the Liberal caucus.
The opposition parties united to endorse the NDP motion. Only the Liberals therefore opposed. Thus, 172 deputies voted in favor and 149 against.
Earlier Thursday, the Chinese government maintained that it has never interfered in Canadian politics and denied the new allegations about Han Dong.
This elected official withdrew from the Liberal caucus on Wednesday evening, after Global News, under the faith of anonymous security sources, revealed that he had privately advised a senior Chinese diplomat to delay the release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor .
Both Michaels spent more than a thousand days behind bars in China before being released in 2021.
Mr. Dong now sits as an independent in the House of Commons. He assured that he intends to defend himself against “these completely false allegations”. He said he never did anything that would have put the two Michaels in danger.
Asked about Mr. Dong’s decision on Thursday in Beijing, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry argued that “Canada might be in a better position” to comment on this file, adding that “China opposes interference in the internal affairs of other countries”.
“We have no interest and we will not interfere in the internal affairs of Canada,” said Wang Wenbin.
China arrested Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor in apparent retaliation for the December 2018 arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on a US extradition warrant. .
Beijing has always maintained that these two files were unrelated, even though the arrests were made shortly after and the two Michaels were released the same day as Mr.me Meng.