(OTTAWA) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he was never told if any candidates in the 2019 federal election had received funding from the Chinese government.
A Global News report that aired earlier this month cited unnamed sources as saying Trudeau had been informed last January that China had attempted to interfere in Canadian politics, including by funding at least 11 candidates in the federal elections of 2019.
The Liberals were questioned repeatedly in the House of Commons this week by opposition MPs, who demanded that they reveal the identities of the candidates involved and find out what Canada intended to do about the Chinese interference. .
Like Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, responding MPs were evasive, saying only that elections are free and fair in Canada.
From Tunisia, where he is wrapping up a 10-day trip to Asia and Africa, Trudeau said the government has not publicly identified any of these candidates because it does not know who they are. He maintained that he only learned of these allegations from the media.
“I can tell you clearly: I have no information about federal candidates who received money from China,” he said.
He also pointed out that he was briefed regularly by intelligence and security officials. No one informed him of these allegations.
On November 14, the Liberals backed a resolution introduced by the Conservatives to a House of Commons parliamentary committee to extend the investigation into foreign interference to “discuss media reports that the Chinese Communist Party has worked to influence the 2019 federal election.”
The Liberals say they supported the motion because they believe the Global report raises questions for officials to answer. The resolution calls for the government to provide all “relevant” briefing notes, memoranda and documents presented to the prime minister and cabinet members on the matter within a week.
“I have asked the people responsible to look at these media reports thoroughly and provide all possible answers to the parliamentary committee which is following up on these issues,” Trudeau said on Sunday.
Canada is at odds with China as evidenced by the strained relations between Prime Minister Trudeau and President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Bali last week.
Mr. Trudeau had been rebuffed by the Chinese president for having given the media some details of their exchange the day before, on the sidelines of the meeting.
Speaking to Mr. Trudeau in front of the cameras, President Xi had criticized the prime minister for having shared the subjects discussed privately with the media.
“Everything we talked about leaked to the media, it is not appropriate, denounced the Chinese Prime Minister. And the conversation did not go like that. »
At that point, Mr. Trudeau interrupted Mr. Xi and resumed speaking to say, “We believe in free, open and frank dialogue and that is what we will continue to have. We will continue to seek to work together constructively, but there will be things we will not agree on. »
Trudeau spoke with Xi on Tuesday and his cabinet said it had raised concerns about Chinese interference in Canada. The Prime Minister did not specify what type of interference it was, but the comment follows allegations that Beijing is running de facto police stations in Canada and that China has interfered in the federal election. of 2019.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning also strongly denied that China has interfered in the internal affairs of any other country. She accused Canada of being responsible for the deterioration of diplomatic relations between the two countries.