The Conservative opposition has seized on recent allegations of Chinese interference in Canada to blame the Trudeau government for doing nothing to address them. The Conservatives accuse the Liberals of having something “to hide” in this file. One of them even insinuated that it would be because elected liberals were themselves financed by Beijing. A risky allegation, worries a national security expert.
The news shook the political class. The Chinese Communist Party is said to have funded 11 candidates in the 2019 federal elections, both Liberal Party members and Conservative Party members, in a sweeping foreign interference operation. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and some of his ministers were informed of this last January, according to the Global News network.
The Conservatives have therefore been asking the government every day since Monday who these candidates are and what steps have been taken to crack down on them and the Beijing matchmakers.
In the absence of a response, Quebec MP Luc Berthold and deputy leader of the party in the Commons asked in the House what the Prime Minister “knows” and “why does he want to hide it from Canadians”. Before launching on Tuesday: “Is an elected member of the Liberal benches one of the 11 candidates who have received money from the Chinese communist regime? »
The government insists that its intelligence agencies ensure the smooth running of the polls. “There was no change after the election,” insisted Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc.
His colleague François-Philippe Champagne, in Innovation and Industry, spent the week urging the Conservatives not to make political appropriations. “On questions like that, you have to stick to the facts. I think it is dangerous to politicize such an issue. We are talking about democracy. »
The Conservatives counter that they do not. Their foreign affairs spokesperson, Michael Chong, has never pointed the finger at the Liberals, like his colleague Luc Berthold. Leader Pierre Poilievre, for his part, insisted on asking the government if he had warned the Commissioner of Canada Elections (the Liberals did not respond).
But Mr. Berthold for his part reiterated his insinuations, arguing in an impromptu press on Wednesday that, faced with the government’s silence, “we can legitimately ask ourselves the question: are there any among these 11 candidates? who are current or potential candidates of the Liberal Party of Canada? He did not repeat it on Thursday.
Ammunition to disinformation
Intelligence experts have worried for years about foreign interference efforts led in particular by Beijing. “Asking questions about this issue is important,” confirms Stephanie Carvin, associate professor at Carleton University and former analyst at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).
“But to suggest, on the basis of this article citing anonymous sources, that individuals are disloyal or paid by China, it is inappropriate”, adds the expert. “We know that electoral systems are one of the main targets of disinformation. So there is a risk that this kind of talk will fuel these efforts that seek to undermine our democracy. »
Professor Carvin is further concerned that the allegations reported by Overall are possibly pinned up. Because the article does not cite a specific intelligence report, does not specify where the sources come from, or at what level of CSIS they are and what level of detail they could hold on such a subject. “A lot of information is still missing. It would be inappropriate to brandish allegations of disloyalty at this time. »
However, the Conservatives do well to ask the government for clarification in general, she insists. In 2010, then-CSIS director Richard Fadden was already publicly concerned about foreign interference. He told the CBC that the intelligence agency suspected elected municipal officials in British Columbia and two provincial ministers of being under the influence of foreign governments. the Globe and Mail revealed five years later that the Ontario Liberal Minister Michael Chan was one of them, because he was considered too close to the Chinese consulate in Toronto (Mr. Chan denied).
Legit questions, other forum
In Prof. Carvin’s view, opposition parties would be better off investigating through parliamentary committees, which can subpoena federal officials and demand documents. CSIS, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Commissioner of Canada Elections are also better placed than the government to respond, she said, because it is quite possible that the assurances of Justin Trudeau or his ministers will not be taken seriously. The Bloc Québécois wrote to the Commissioner of Canada Elections to ask her to investigate.
Conservative Michael Chong insists, however, that they must demand answers in committee – as they did by extending an investigation this week – but also in the Commons. Because if some of the Beijing-funded candidates were sitting in parliament, the House would have to look into the matter and the respective party caucuses too.
Mr. Chong rejects the accusations of partisan co-opting thrown at them by the Liberals. “We have been clear from the start that this is not a partisan issue. That Liberals and Conservatives are involved in this fundraising scheme. »
What to do with the insinuations of his colleague Luc Berthold, about liberal secretiveness to protect candidates in their own ranks? “I did not re-read the transcript [des Communes]. I don’t know what was said specifically,” replies Mr. Chong.
Conservatives fear that this $250,000 campaign by China has influenced some local races, in some counties — although they agree with the government that it would not have changed the final outcome of the poll and the election of a minority Liberal government in 2019.
The Conservative Party also denounces the fact that the Chinese regime has carried out a major disinformation campaign on Chinese social networks, which they believe would have had the same impact at the local level during the 2021 election.
The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa did not respond to a request for comment from the To have to.
The Chinese president and Justin Trudeau had a dispute at the G20 summit. Xi Jinping has snubbed Justin Trudeau after the Prime Minister’s Office told Canadian media that he had raised “serious concerns about interference activities” in Canada.