On 10 April, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified in a public inquiry to the Foreign Interference Commission led by Quebec judge Marie-Josee Hogue over foreign interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections. The commission is inquiring into the leaks by the Canadian news agency The Globe and the Mail on the intelligence report of Chinese interference in the elections. The anonymous National Security official stated his reason for the leaking of the information was that the government did not take the threat seriously. The official informed that they (CSIS) warned politicians and other authorities of the interference but led to no official action or investigation. The commission now would also see how the information was passed, if wasn’t it taken seriously and why.

What happened?
On 02 April, Chinese Canadian Political Han Dong, a Member of the House of Commons Canada publicly testified on the Chinese interference in the 2019 election and his victory. The CSIS reported that a bus of Chinese students was transported to vote for Han Dong. They also found that there was a proxy agent in the Chinese consulate in Canada who aided the students with false documents to vote for him. The commission is now looking into how and why the Canadian officials responded in the manner they did and why there was no action taken. Hang Dong refuted that he had no knowledge of the interference but that he was aware of the bus of foreign students but not who chartered them.

To read more:
Femy Francis, “Canada investigates Chinese interference in 2019 and 2020 elections,” NIAS China Reader, 05 April 2024

What does the CSIS say?
Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) reported that they warned Justin Trudeau of the Chinese interference in the elections. And that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was involved in sending money to pro-China and affiliated candidates in Canada. The CSIS stated that: “The Chinese Communist Party … is using all elements of state power to carry out activities that are a direct threat to our national security and sovereignty.” They believe that the Chinese government was involved “Clandestinely and deceptively” in the 2019 and 2021 elections, reported CSIS to the Prime Minister's Office in 2023 in a top-secret briefing. The document was submitted to PMO as “Assertions in Media Reporting,” where they stated: “We know the PRC clandestinely and deceptively interfered both in the 2019 and 2021 general elections. In both cases, [foreign interference ... was] pragmatic in nature and focused primarily in supporting those viewed to be either 'pro-PRC' or 'neutral' on issues of interest to the PRC government.” Another document found that there were media activities linked to discouraging Canadians from supporting Conservative Party leaders like Erin O'Toole who were perceived as anti-PRC. The briefing to PMO inferred that: “Until (foreign interference) is viewed as an existential threat to Canadian democracy and governments forcefully and actively respond, these threats will persist.”

What do Trudeau and his counterpart say?
Prime Minister Justine Trudeau in his testimony asserted that there wasn’t “sufficient credible information,” to remove the candidate after he was informed of the suspicion by CSIS. He felt that the intelligence officials would not be familiar with the candidate nomination process where the bringing buses of foreign students are not essentially incriminating. Therefore, there wasn’t credible information for Trudeau to take the step to remove an elected candidate.

Trudeau recounted meeting Liberal camping director Jeremy Broadhurst over the concerns relegated to him by the CSIS of the interference. Where after the discussion and concluded that it did not meet the threshold to warrant reversing his nomination. Bill Blair the Public Safety Minister in 2021 also testified who said after the briefing by the CSIS he was not convinced as it was not substantiated, the briefing was not able to prove that Dong was aware of it, and that it in any form affected the Don Valley North’s election result. Blair said: “Intelligence isn't necessarily factual evidence of what took place.” The party’s campaign director Jeremy Broadhurst said that the CSIS just wanted them to know and weren’t advising the PMO to take any actions. He said: “They weren't making a recommendation that the party should do anything.” Democratic Institution Minister Karina Gould testified that CSIS informed her of low-level foreign interference by China after the 2019 elections but was not part of the briefing of 2019 September. Trudeau asserted that while there was interference it did not change the trajectory of elections, “those elections held in their integrity. They were decided by Canadians.”

References
Christopher Nardi and Catherine Lévesque, “Trudeau doubted intelligence officials' ability to spot interference in Liberal nomination contest: testimony,” National Post, 10 April 2024
“Why I blew the whistle on Chinese interference in Canada’s elections,” The Globe and Mail, 20 March 2023
Nadine Yousif, “Trudeau appears at inquiry into foreign meddling in Canada elections,” BBC, 10 April 2024
Norimitsu Onishi, “Trudeau Rebuts Reports of Foreign Interference in Canadian Elections,” The New York Times, 10 April 2024