They arrived by coach. Between 175 and 200 Chinese international students with false proof of residence in the Ontario riding. The Chinese consulate allegedly told them they would lose their visas if they did not support Han Dong to become the Liberal candidate in the 2019 election.
Do you know the result?
Han Dong won the nomination race, by a narrow margin. He was then easily elected MP in the riding of Don Valley-North, which was practically won by the Liberals. For China, it was mission accomplished. For our democracy, it was a black eye, a concrete example where foreign interference “played a significant role” in our electoral process, according to Canadian intelligence services.
Unfortunately there are many others. Just Friday, we learned that a foreign government attempted to sabotage the election of a Liberal candidate during the Commission on Foreign Interference hearings.
While federal elections could be called at any time, political parties have some serious housekeeping to do in their internal governance. They should play a role model, because they are the first link in our democracy. Unfortunately, they are also the weakest link.
PHOTO JUSTIN TANG, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Judge Marie-Josée Hogue chairs the Commission on Foreign Interference.
Their investiture assemblies can become “gateways” for foreign states seeking to interfere in our elections, warned Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue in her preliminary report last May.
And that’s not all. Foreign powers are also poking their noses into party leadership races. The Conservative Party was also the target of interference during the appointment of two of its leaders, we learned from a damning report from the Committee of Parliamentarians on National Security and Intelligence, last March.
It is clear that vulnerabilities in the organization of political parties provide very fertile ground for countries that want to subtly meddle in our affairs.
The internal party process is so lax that it is child’s play for a group or a state to remotely guide an MP into Parliament by placing their player in a constituency that the party is almost certain to win. With few votes, it is easy to tip the scales.
Unlike the electoral process which is rigorously supervised by Elections Canada, political parties act as they see fit to choose their leader and their candidates in the different constituencies.
Even though they are at the very heart of democracy, political parties behave like private clubs, following their own internal rules, without transparency or accountability to the population. This is not normal.
As their process is not monitored by an independent external body, there is little chance of cheaters being caught. Even if it did, there would be no consequences, because nomination interference is not an offense in Canada, as it is in Australia or the United Kingdom.
These are serious shortcomings that deserve to be corrected quickly.
Currently, just about anyone can vote at a nomination meeting. You just need to reside in the constituency (but it is very easy to provide false proof of residence) and be a member of the party (but the rules for becoming members are too accommodating).
In the Liberal Party of Canada, you can register for free, while other parties charge fees of $5 to $15 to become a member. It’s not huge, but it’s one more step that helps reduce the risk of individuals out of nowhere infiltrating an investiture meeting.
In addition, some parties accept among their members young people under the age of 18 and people who do not have Canadian citizenship. They can therefore vote to choose a candidate, even if they do not have the right to vote in elections. It’s illogical. But it’s also dangerous, because noncitizens are more vulnerable to intimidation from a foreign government.
Despite everything, political parties do not want to have their behavior dictated to them. In recent days, their representatives came to tell the Commission on Foreign Interference that they “value their independence” and that they are “very confident in the system in place”.
Ah good ? They must be the only ones! If they took off their rose-colored glasses, they would see that public confidence is seriously shaken. If political parties were serious about fighting political interference, they would start by navel-gazing.
It is clear that political parties need a tighter framework.
Should we simply force them to reveal their rules and enforce them, failing which complaints could be filed with the Commissioner of Federal Elections?
Should we instead impose common rules on them, the application of which would be monitored by Elections Canada? It would be heavier, but more reliable.
Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue, who will submit her final report by the end of December, must find a way to restore public confidence in the electoral system, starting with its first link: the political parties.
If the chain breaks, we will all pay the price.