(Ottawa) An independent public inquiry is not needed to shed light on foreign interference in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections, even though there is no doubt that authoritarian countries like China are still trying today to influence candidates and voters, concludes independent special rapporteur David Johnston in a report released on Tuesday.
Against all expectations, Mr. Johnston believes that such an approach “would not be possible due to the sensitive nature of the information involved”, he argued in his 65-page report.
However, he considers it appropriate to hold public hearings on the “serious issues” of governance and policy that have been highlighted in recent weeks, including the sharing of information between security agencies and the various ministries, the office of the prime minister and elected officials. He proposes to hold these public hearings as part of the second phase of his mandate, which ends in October.
Opposition parties have been calling in unison for months for a public inquiry following the daily’s revelations The Globe and Mail in March that China used sophisticated strategies to ensure the election of a minority liberal government and the defeat of certain conservative candidates deemed hostile to the communist regime in Beijing during the last election.
The daily also revealed three weeks ago that Conservative MP Michael Chong and members of his family who still live in Hong Kong had been intimidated by Chinese agents because the MP Ontario had sponsored a motion passed in the Commons calling the treatment of the Uyghur minority in China a genocide.
The Globe and Mail had access to highly confidential Canadian Intelligence and Security Service (CSIS) reports detailing foreign interference activities.
According to Mr. Johnston, it is important to analyze this information in context in order to be able to draw “informed conclusions”, because according to him, “specific cases are less of a concern than some media have suggested”. In some cases, this information “paints a completely different picture of the situation than what has been reported so far”.
For example, he claims to have reviewed intelligence gathered by CSIS and found no evidence that China employed any scheme to facilitate the election of a minority Liberal government in 2021, although he agrees that ‘small number of Chinese diplomats’ have expressed a preference for the Liberal Party of Canada over the Conservative Party. He also concluded that the allegation reported by Global News that a Toronto-area Liberal MP, Han Dong, advised the Chinese consulate in Toronto in 2021 to delay the release of the two Michaels was “false.”
He is keen to affirm that the results of the last two federal elections have not been affected by foreign interference.
Johnston believes the media leaks and subsequent publications led to “misunderstandings” about incidents that allegedly happened during the 2019 and 2021 elections.
“Foreign interference doesn’t usually take the form of discrete, ad hoc bits of intelligence and can’t be dealt with by saying ‘look what I found!’, unless the situation is particularly urgent,” notes Mr Johnston in his report.
He affirms that the government must make the necessary efforts to identify those responsible for these leaks, especially since they can cause damage to the interests of Canada. “You can’t rule out malice.”
Mr Johnston admitted in his report that he was initially biased in favor of holding a public inquiry, stressing that “transparency and truth are the pillars of trust”. But he changed his mind following the work he carried out and after having had access to “top secret” documents.
He believes that a public inquiry is unlikely to shed new light on the whole affair. Such an exercise could not take place “in public” anyway due to the sensitive nature of national security information.
The independent special rapporteur also concludes that the Trudeau government has adequately discharged its responsibilities in the fight against foreign interference. He found no instances where ministers, the prime minister, or their cabinets “willfully ignored information, advice, or recommendations on foreign interference” for partisan reasons.
Mr. Johnston believes that Canada must adopt a sophisticated and objective national security strategy. “Foreign interference not only undermines political parties, but also the foundations of our democracy,” he said. He expresses the wish that this question can “transcend partisan divisions” and “unite all parties in a common cause aimed at defending our democracy and the integrity of our elections”.
As part of his work, Mr. Johnston and his team met with about 50 people, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and some of his ministers and CSIS officials, among others. He also met with Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and former Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole.
Mr. Johnston tried to meet the leader of the Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre, but the latter refused to meet with the special rapporteur.
In March, Justin Trudeau gave Mr. Johnston a mandate to examine “the consequences of foreign interference in the last two federal general elections” and “to make expert recommendations on how to better protect our democracy”. Mr. Trudeau had therefore undertaken to respect the recommendations of the former Governor General, whatever they may be.
Mr. Trudeau decided to appoint an independent special rapporteur after the daily The Globe and Mail reported in March that China used sophisticated strategies to ensure the election of a minority liberal government and the defeat of some conservative candidates deemed hostile to the communist regime in Beijing during the last ballot.
The Conservative Party estimates that as many as nine of its candidates were defeated in the 2021 federal election due to a disinformation campaign waged on social media such as WeChat.
The Conservative Party and the Bloc Québécois sharply criticized Mr. Johnston’s appointment, arguing in particular that the ties of friendship between him and the Trudeau family could cast doubt on his impartiality.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre also noted that Mr. Johnston had been a member of the Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau Foundation. It should also be noted that Mr. Johnston was appointed Governor General by former Prime Minister Stephen Harper.