Justin Trudeau, the president of Russia Vladimir Putin, rushed to the nearest speaker to voice his concern that foreigners may interfere with his country’s upcoming elections.
Trudeau said,” We have been very focused over the past years on strengthening our political organizations.” We must make sure that they are up to date in order to stop foreign meddling and involvement.
The prime minister’s alleged concern about the holiness of “democratic institutions” is not just pointless because he calmly opposes Canadian truckers while using government authority against them in protest of his autocratic covid- 19 policies. They are lifeless because it is obvious that neither Trudeau nor his administration had the ability to defend the country’s political system from international control in the years that followed.
Foreign Election Interference
On Monday, Ottawa’s lead spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service ( CSIS), confirmed that Communist China interfered in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 federal elections. These attempts “focused mostly on supporting those viewed to be either ‘ pro- PRC’ or’ negative’ on issues of interest to the]Chinese ] state”, a drop shown to American officials reads, according to Reuters.
According to The Toronto Star, the briefing provided to the Foreign Interference Commission more revealed that, during the 2021 contest, the CCP especially aimed” to deter Canadians, particularly those’ of Taiwanese heritage,’ from backing the Conservative party, next- leader Erin O’Toole, and B. C. Conservative candidate Kenny Chiu”. During the 2021 plan, liberal candidates frequently criticized Huawei, a Chinese tech giant suspected of facilitating malware for Beijing, and the CCP’s harsh treatment of Uyghurs.
Chiu unfortunately lost his 2021 vote charge, while Trudeau’s Liberal Party won both the 2019 and 2021 votes.
According to the Star, the timing of these efforts to align with Conservative polling progress, the resemblance in speech with articles published by PRC position media, and the association agreements between these Canada-based outlets and PRC entities all suggest that these efforts were planned or directed by the PRC, according to the CSIS analysis.
O’Toole estimated that China’s interference had “up to nine seats” for Conservatives but that it had not” changed the course of the election” as reported by Reuters.
Early last year, when CSIS information detailing the CCP’s activities were leaked to The Globe and Mail, reports of China’s election interference started to surface. Trudeau initially rejected Conservatives ‘ call for an investigation into the allegations, at one point saying:” Canadians can be reassured that our election integrity held” in 2019 and 2021. Later, the prime minister approved and appoints an investigation team for the investigation to take place in March 2023.
During Monday’s briefing, CSIS called on Trudeau’s government to take more effective action to address future election interference attempts, with the agency noting there are “few legal or political consequences” for foreign actors infringing on Canada’s democratic process.
Trudeau Takes the Stand
Following the Foreign Interference Commission’s Monday briefing on CSIS’s findings, Trudeau testified before the body on Wednesday to reveal what he knew about China’s actions and when he learned them.
At the beginning of his remarks, the Liberal prime minister took a pot- shot at the government run by his predecessor, Conservative PM Stephen Harper, which he contended did not conduct enough “oversight” into Canada’s “national security universe”. He also hyped his government’s approach to national security issues and claimed his agencies are” compliant with Canadian values, rules, and the Charter, and … doing everything necessary to keep Canadians safe”.
The prime minister was questioned during the hearing about reports of Chinese interference inside Canada, particularly in relation to the nomination of Liberal MP Han Dong for president in 2019. A CSIS memo from this week claimed that Dong’s district was helped by the Chinese Consulate in Toronto by sending Mandarin-speaking Chinese students there.
The memo stated that” [s]ome intelligence reporting indicated students were given falsified documents to allow them to cast ballots even though they were not residents of Don Valley North” and that the records were “provided by individuals associated with a known proxy agent.”
Dong told the commission on Tuesday, as Rebel News described, that he “frequently spoke” with then- Counsel General Han Tao of China’s Toronto consulate. He also told the commission he has n’t” seen any evidence” of PRC interference in Canadian elections and,” to the best of]his ] knowledge”, does not believe there was any such interference regarding his 2019 nomination.
Canada’s elections commissioner is currently investigating Dong’s nomination, according to the outlet.
In his testimony, Trudeau claimed that Jeremy Broadhurst, his adviser, first told him about the situation in September 2019— a month before the federal elections that year, and that” CSIS did n’t have any conclusions to share at that time” regarding whether” the actual outcome of the nomination could have been affected.”
” That was n’t clear at all”, Trudeau said.
Trudeau added that he did not accept CSIS’s” threshold” for removing Dong as a Liberal nominee given that the warnings about Beijing’s Toronto consulate busting Chinese students did not meet the” threshold.”
” In this case, I did n’t feel that there was sufficient, or sufficiently credible, information that would justify this very significant step, as to remove a candidate in these circumstances”, Trudeau said.
Questionable Remarks
Despite CSIS’s findings, Trudeau seemingly is n’t convinced that China’s 2021 efforts were designed to benefit the Liberal Party.
The prime minister questioned the intelligence that Beijing was trying to improve the electoral chances of his party, writing that it seemed improbable that the Chinese government itself would have a preference in the election.
These statements go against the information provided by CSIS, which highlighted the CCP’s desire to undermine Conservative Party candidates, as previously stated.
Another controversy occurred when Trudeau was describing how he received intelligence. The Liberal Party leader cited his busy work and travel schedule as evidence that he “may or may not read” intelligence briefs that were given to him by administration officials.
The best way to get in touch with me is to speak directly to my national security and intelligence advisor, who will typically provide me with security updates on a variety of subjects, Trudeau said in French, via a translator.
The Federalist staff writer Shawn Fleetwood graduated from the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClear Health, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
