Pressure mounts on Trudeau to call inquiry into Chinese election meddling scandal

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is under fire from his political opposition as calls grow for a public inquiry to investigate Chinese meddling in Canada’s elections. 

“We want to know exactly what the Chinese authoritarian government did, and whether there were political parties aware of those actions or not,” Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre told reporters in Ottawa according to The Guardian. 

On March 2nd, opposition members in Canada’s Procedures and House Affairs Committee passed a motion officially requesting that Trudeau open an inquiry into Chinese election interference during Canada’s elections in 2019 and 2021. 

“The motion remains non-binding,” wrote National Post’s Cathrine Lévesque, “meaning that the government might decide to simply ignore it.” And ignore it Trudeau has. 

During a press conference in Winnipeg on March 3rd, Trudeau refused to comment on why he wouldn’t call a public inquiry into China’s election meddling in Canada, instead opting to only say that he understood the growing frustration of many Canadians. 

“I absolutely hear that Canadians want to be reassured that independent experts are looking at this issue,” Trudeau said during a press conference on March 3rd.  

“They want to make sure that all the right questions are being posed by our intelligence and security agencies,” the Canadian Prime Minister continued.

“...and they want a level of public accountability from those officials to be talking about everything that needs to be done and everything that continues to be done,” Trudeau added. ​​“All of these goals are related to processes that are ongoing as we speak.”

News of China’s election interference in Canada began trickling out in November 2022. But in mid-February, The Globe and Mail published details from a Canadian Security and Intelligence (CSIS) report that showed the extent of Beijing meddling in Canada’s domestic politics.

“China employed a sophisticated strategy to disrupt Canada’s democracy in the 2021 federal election campaign as Chinese diplomats and their proxies backed the re-election of Justin Trudeau’s Liberals,” Robert File wrote. 

Beijing’s goal, according to the CSIS report and File's reporting, was to get Justin Trudeau reelected as Prime Minister but to ensure that he only won a minority government. 

“CSIS also explained how Chinese diplomats conduct foreign interference operations in support of political candidates and elected officials, " File wrote. 

“Tactics include undeclared cash donations to political campaigns or having business owners hire international Chinese students,” File continued, adding that a “key part of their interference operation is to influence vulnerable Chinese immigrants in Canada.”

In November, Global News reported that the Prime Minister had been made aware of efforts by Beijing to provide secret funding to 11 candidates in the 2019 election. But Trudeau's office would not directly comment on the story at the time.

“Protecting Canadians’ security is our top priority. Threats, harassment, or intimidation of Canadian citizens are unacceptable, and all allegations of interference are investigated thoroughly by our security agencies,” said a statement from the PM’s office.

“As threats evolve, so must the methods used to address them. That is why the Prime Minister has given the Minister of Public Safety the mandate to improve collaboration between Canadian security agencies,” the statement added.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Morris Rosenberg was later recruited by Trudeau to lead an investigation into China’s interference during Canada’s 2021 election as more information about Beijing's meddling leaked to the public. 

Dean Calma, own work, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Morris_A._Rosenberg_(cropped).jpg

On March 2nd, Rosenberg released his report and found that while China did interfere with Canada’s elections, it did not meet the threshold to become problematic. 

“National security agencies saw attempts at foreign interference, but not enough to have met the threshold of impacting electoral integrity,” Rosenberg wrote in his report. 

While Trudeau can point to Rosenberg’s report as a means to avoid a public inquiry, it is likely that political pressure from the Conservatives and the NDP will eventually pressure the Prime Minister into eventually ordering an inquiry. 

What we’ll learn then about Chinese interference in Canadian elections is anybody's guess, but it could be a major problem for Trudeau...