(Ottawa) The Commission of Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference intends to make the necessary efforts to get to the bottom of allegations that countries such as China, Russia and India have engaged in activities of interference in an attempt to influence the results of the 2019 and 2019 federal elections.
Judge Marie-Josée Hogue wanted to quickly set the tone for the hearings which began on Monday in the hope of reassuring Canadians about the mandate of the commission she chairs.
“Our goal is to discover the truth, whatever it may be,” declared the commissioner in her opening speech. By properly fulfilling its mandate, the commission will be able to understand what happened, draw conclusions and make recommendations for the future, she also said.
“My team and I intend to do everything we can to get to the bottom of things and understand what the country may have faced and what it may still be facing in terms of foreign interference. Foreign interference in our democratic institutions is a very serious issue which requires us to push the investigation, analysis and reflection as far as possible to ultimately identify the best ways to counter it.”
If its mandate is also to assess whether the Trudeau government acted up to its responsibilities when it was made aware of the allegations of foreign interference, it will not be able to assign blame.
“It is not the role of a commission of inquiry to seek to identify culprits or those responsible. Its work does not involve plaintiffs, defendants or accused. That said, a commission makes its findings public even when they may harm the reputation of certain people or certain organizations,” said the commissioner.
To get to the bottom of things, Judge Marie-Josée Hogue indicated that she could allow witnesses to appear behind closed doors if some fear being the subject of reprisals or threats from the countries that are put in question. cause. This opening by Judge Hogue targets in particular members of the Chinese diaspora, who have expressed fears in this regard in recent months.
To fulfill its mandate, the commission will have to take into account the sensitive nature of the information that has been collected by security agencies such as the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and which has been the subject of numerous reports in the Canadian media. over the past two years, especially the daily The Globe and Mail.
In February 2023, the English daily reported that China had used a refined strategy to ensure the re-election of a minority Liberal government led by Justin Trudeau and to defeat conservative candidates deemed hostile to the Chinese communist regime.
The Globe and Mail then claimed to have seen the extent of the interference operation carried out by Beijing by consulting secret (SCRS) documents relating to the period before and after the September 2021 elections.
In response to these allegations, the Trudeau government decided to appoint an independent special rapporteur, former Governor General of Canada David Johnston. The latter concluded in a report that China “used proxies and attempted to influence numerous liberal and conservative candidates in various subtle ways”, but that this had not affected the results of the last two elections.
In her speech, Judge Marie-Josée Hogue indicated that she had no preconceived ideas in accepting the mandate of commissioner.
The first days of the commission’s hearings will be devoted to assessing the challenges, limitations and potential detrimental effects on national security resulting from the public disclosure of classified information and intelligence.
By the commissioner’s own admission, the decision surrounding the disclosure of sensitive information that could harm national security represents one of the greatest challenges facing the commission.
In the interest of transparency, she promises to publish a summary of hearings that may have to take place behind closed doors to examine classified information.
Experts, academics and professionals in the field of national security will also be called to testify on Tuesday and Wednesday in the hope of identifying practices that could be adopted by the commission regarding the sharing of information deemed sensitive.
On Thursday, current members of intelligence, including the director of CSIS, David Vigneault, will testify. For his part, the Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs, Dominic LeBlanc, will be called to appear on Friday.
Hearings into allegations of interference against China, India and Russia will take place at the end of March. Judge Marie-Josée Hogue must submit a first report on this portion of the investigation no later than May 3.
The final report, which must assess in particular the way in which information on foreign interference circulated within the federal government, the actions that were taken to counter interference activities, and the capacity of the federal government to detect, deter and counter foreign interference, will be tabled no later than the end of the year. This report will also contain recommendations on all of these questions.