Pierre Poilievre had been waiting for two weeks to face Justin Trudeau in the Commons to hound him about the Chinese regime’s attempts to interfere. The Conservative leader did not hold back on Wednesday. He accused the Prime Minister, half-heartedly, of lying and of busying himself with protecting his own interests rather than those of Canada’s national security. “Odious” and “hateful” remarks, the Prime Minister sent him back, during particularly stormy exchanges.
Justin Trudeau was back in the House for the first time on Wednesday, following the parliamentary recess that began in mid-February. His Conservative rival initially showed himself to be relatively calm and reserved — while nevertheless accusing him of “speaking the opposite of the truth” and “falsehoods” — by bombarding him with questions about what the Prime Minister and his entourage knew about Beijing’s interference efforts. But the tone quickly changed during question period.
On each occasion, Mr. Trudeau repeated that the forums he has appointed to investigate China’s election interference efforts and the actions taken by Canadian authorities to counter them are the right ones. That these studies should be entrusted to two committees and a special rapporteur, as he has done, to protect national security as well as the personnel of intelligence agencies.
Fed up with getting the same evasive answers over and over again, Mr. Poilievre got angry.
” [Le premier ministre] is not interested in protecting the safety of the people who serve this country. He is interested in protecting the Liberal Party of Canada,” chanted the Conservative leader, further accusing Mr. Trudeau of only protecting “his political career.” The day before, Mr. Poilievre had criticized him once again, in a press briefing, for “acting against the interests of Canada and for the benefit of the interests of a foreign dictatorship”.
Justin Trudeau in turn ignited. “It is unfortunate and odious that any member of this House should question the loyalty to Canada of any other member of this House,” he said, to loud applause from his troops. . The Prime Minister then repeated for the umpteenth time that he “understands the real concerns of Canadians” and that is why he has ordered new investigations.
Pierre Poilievre replied that a “drama course” would not be enough to make people forget their requests. His Quebec senator, Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu, for his part treated Justin Trudeau in the morning of “danger for the nation”.
No explanation would suffice
Moreover, it is these fears of Canadian citizens that the Prime Minister has cited to justify not providing any details in response to the allegations that have followed one another since last fall. THE Globe and Mail reported that the Chinese regime would have tried to favor the election of a minority liberal government in 2021 – considered more lenient towards Beijing. The Global News network reported, also based on anonymous sources and documents, that the Chinese regime tried to promote the election of 11 candidates in 2019 – liberals and conservatives.
“Quite frankly, I know that no matter what I say, Canadians will continue to have questions about what we have done and what we have not done,” defended Justin Trudeau, upon his arrival at the Parliament in the morning as he faced a barrage of questions from the media.
Public inquiry required
Opposition MPs in turn bombarded the Prime Minister with questions in the Commons. The Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party continued to call, like the Conservatives, for a public inquiry.
Pierre Poilievre tried to question the prime minister like a prosecutor, before getting carried away. He asked if the Prime Minister or his entourage had been alerted by security agencies to their concerns surrounding foreign interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections. foreign interference, as suspected by intelligence agencies according to the Globe and Mail. And if the Liberal Party itself received funds from the communist regime of China.
The Prime Minister insisted that he and his government have “no information on federal candidates who have received money from China”. And his remarks of the last few days on the importance of non-partisan investigations, to restore the confidence of Canadians.
Mr. Trudeau and Canadian intelligence services insist that the outcome of the 2019 and 2021 elections was not influenced by efforts at foreign interference.