Opposition parties in Ottawa agreed this week to call for a national public inquiry that would get to the bottom of allegations of Chinese interference in the last two federal elections. After two weeks of leaks to the media on secret reports from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) regarding the Chinese government’s attempts to influence the outcome of the vote in 2019 and 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau still refuses to accede to this request. We understand his refusal. Because if it is unlikely that a public inquiry can shed all light on this affair, especially because of the impossibility of disclosing information relating to national security, such an investigation would be devastating for Mr. Trudeau, whose attempts at rapprochement with China marked the first years in power.
First there was the now famous Liberal Party of Canada fundraising cocktail in 2016 at the home of Toronto businessman Benson Wong, chairman of the board of the Chinese Business Chamber of Canada, where, for the modest sum of $1,500, some thirty hand-picked guests had direct access to Mr. Trudeau. One of them, the Chinese billionaire Zhang Bin, had subsequently announced a donation of $200,000 to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and another of $800,000 to the Faculty of Law of the University of Montreal, the school where Trudeau Sr. had taught before entering politics. But, like the Globe and Mail unveiled this week citing documents from CSIS, Mr. Zhang’s donation was part of a strategy by Beijing to influence the Trudeau government. It was also learned that the money came not from Mr. Zhang’s pockets, but from the Chinese government.ShenglinXian was also present at the cocktail party. He is the co-founder of the Canadian bank Wealth One, created in 2016, which is regulated by Beijing and implicated in a case of money laundering, according to a letter that the Minister of Finance would have sent in 2022 to Mr. Xian and its two business partners.
A public inquiry would also be required to examine the conduct of the last elections in the twenty or so Canadian ridings where voters of Chinese and Hong Kong origin account for more than a quarter of voters. In these constituencies, we are witnessing parallel campaigns where electoral issues are sometimes more related to Canadian foreign policy than to local issues. But the divisions between voters of Hong Kong and Chinese origin on the question of Sino-Canadian relations give rise to certain arbitrations. This is how the private member’s bill providing for the creation of a register of foreign agents tabled by Conservative MP Kenny Chiu caused so many waves. Mr. Chiu and his bill were the subject of a disinformation campaign allegedly by the Chinese government itself, and he lost his seat in suburban Vancouver in the 2021 election. We already know that the liberals profited from this disinformation campaign.
On Thursday, Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino said his government is now considering establishing a register of foreign agents. Such a law would require anyone who accepts paid work by a foreign government whose purpose is to influence Canadian public policy to register with Ottawa, on pain of imprisonment or a fine. A register of foreign agents has existed since 2018 in Australia, and other countries have since adopted the Australian model. The Trudeau government only seems to have discovered the merits of this initiative when the noose is tightening around it. And that promise wouldn’t be enough to allay Canadians’ concerns about Chinese interference in our democratic affairs — or to end calls for a public inquiry.
According to a poll by the Angus Reid Institute released Thursday, 53% of Canadians find that the Trudeau government’s response to revelations about Chinese interference is not strong enough. This proportion is likely to increase if other revelations follow those which have so far fueled the controversy. According to this poll, nearly two-thirds of voters find that this government does not deal enough with national security and defense issues; 69% say he is afraid to stand up to China.
The tide has turned since Justin Trudeau came to power in 2015. Most of Canada’s allies, starting with the United States, are adopting policies aimed at reducing their dependence on China for international trade. and prevent the sharing of new technologies with that country. Australia joins the United States and Great Britain in a new strategic and military alliance, AUKUS, in order to circumscribe Chinese aims in the Indo-Pacific region and to prepare for a possible armed conflict. China is allying itself with Russia in an “unlimited” partnership which raises fears that Beijing will send arms to Russian soldiers in Ukraine. In this case, Chinese interference in Canadian elections is not trivial, as some Liberals seem to claim. If they don’t change their tune soon, Canadians will change their government.