The foreign interference inquiry’s initial report confirms that Beijing interfered in Canadian democracy, Conservatives said in a statement following the release of the report by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue on May 3.
“The Commissioner confirmed that ‘interference occurred in the last two general elections,’ that it impacted those elections and ’the right of Canadians to have their electoral processes and democratic institutions free from covert influence,'” the Tories said in a statement on May 3, quoting excerpts from the inquiry’s report.
“In looking more closely at examples of Beijing’s interference, the Commissioner also confirmed that foreign interference ‘diminished the ability of some voters to cast an informed vote.’”
Justice Hogue’s report said that China stands out as the “most persistent and sophisticated foreign interference threat to Canada,” and added that while interference didn’t change which party formed government in the 2019 and 2021 elections, it still eroded public trust in elections.
“Foreign interference in 2019 and 2021 undermined the right of voters to have an electoral ecosystem free from coercion or covert influence,” Justice Hogue wrote.
She added that while she can’t know for certain, foreign interference may have impacted results in a small number of ridings.
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Among the ridings she highlighted were Don Valley North in Ontario, were intelligence documents said international students were bused in to vote in support of the Liberal nomination of Han Dong in 2019, as well as Steveston—Richmond East in British Columbia, where then-Tory MP Kenny Chiu was seeking reelection and was the target of a widescale misinformation campaign.
The report noted that the Don Valley North riding is a Liberal stronghold, and that interference in the nomination contest on who becomes the Liberal candidate could have decided who gets elected to Parliament. The report cites intelligence documents saying that international students were provided false documents and coerced to support the nomination of Mr. Dong, who went on to become MP in 2019 and winning reelection in 2021. The report notes that Mr. Dong denies involvement in these incidents.
The report notes that while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was told of these irregularities, he decided to review the matter after the election, saying he didn’t feel the intelligence reports were “sufficiently credible.”
“In his in camera [private] testimony before me, Mr. Trudeau noted that un-endorsing Mr. Dong would have direct electoral consequences as the [Liberal Party] expected to win [Don Valley North]. It would also have a devastating impact on Mr. Dong personally,” Justice Hogue wrote.
Citing this part of the report, Tories said the prime minister’s decisions “were driven by Liberal political interests.”
Mr. Dong resigned from the Liberal caucus last year amidst media reports about his relations with the Chinese consulate. So far, he hasn’t been allowed back in caucus, despite expressing his desire to join the party again.
During the 2021 election, the report notes that both then-Tory leader Erin O'Toole as well as Mr. Chiu were targeted by misinformation due to their strong stance against China’s hostilities. It notes that as Mr. Chiu attempted to counter the false narratives circulated against him, “his messaging was not picked up or circulated by Chinese-language outlets.”
“There is a reasonable possibility that the false narratives could have impacted the results in this riding, but I cannot go further,” Justice Hogue wrote about the election contest in Mr. Chiu’s riding.
The report also notes that NDP MP Jenny Kwan was excluded from some local community events in Vancouver during election campaigns because of her stance against the Chinese regime’s rights abuses.
The inquiry was held after persistent pressure by opposition parties amid media reports of Beijing’s interference based on intelligence leaks. The Liberal government, which was opposed to holding an inquiry, initially appointed former Governor General David Johnston as special rapporteur to examine the issue, but he resigned last year as opposition parties were concerned about potential conflict of interest issues due to his ties with the Trudeau family.
In their statement, Tories acknowledged that while the report says the overall result of the elections were not changed, “the Commissioner states that she could not rule out that it affected results at the riding level.”
“For the sake of our democracy, the Trudeau Government cannot continue to dismiss and minimize the interference that did occur,” the statement said.
The final report of the inquiry is expected before the end of the year this year. The next phase will be focusing on how the public can be informed of foreign interference threats, how information bout foreign interference can be communicated to the government, and reviewing the rules governing nomination contests.
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