A Canadian commission that has been investigating foreign interference in the country’s two electoral events published on August 27 a memo that revealed that agents of China’s Communist Party used illegal tactics to threaten Canadian voters in 2021. The memo from Canada’s Commission on Foreign Interference also revealed that some Canadian federal officials knew about the situation but didn’t do anything to stop it or prevent it.
The memo dated August 2023 from a meeting of Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, where officials present acknowledged threats to thousands of Canadian voters through “foreign state actors.” Officials also said at the meeting that the threats happened a couple of weeks after the special rapporteur of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was ordered to investigate the matter, downplayed the interference. The rapporteur said that the claims of Chinese meddling were nothing more than “media allegations” and fear-mongering from the Canadian right.
The memo revealed that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police was fully aware of the threats made by “foreign actors” against Canadian voters and also knew about the political interference that the Chinese regime was executing in the country. The document detailed that Chinese agents of China’s Communist Party harassed groups and individuals who were exercising their “fundamental freedoms.” The memo also described the situation as “serious,” as one of the main duties of the RCMP is to properly fight and investigate any political interference perpetrated by a foreign actor.
Canada’s Commission on Foreign Interference is currently led by Justice Marie Hogue, who said in a press conference that she and her legal team will be “impartial” in their investigations and decisions into the matter. She also said that her goal is to discover the truth, and won’t be influenced by any political party or interest. When asked if she had received any pressure from any political group in the country or overseas, she said that was irrelevant as nothing would stop her from getting her job done.
The commission was created after the prime minister’s rapporteur David Johnston failed in an official probe into China’s Communist Party allegations in 2023. Political analysts explained that the whole process was scandalous as the inquiry wasn’t made in public and was made by a politician who Trudeau has considered a “family friend.”
Johnston was eventually forced to quit as the government’s special rapporteur after scandal erupted following his conclusion that a public investigation into the matter was a waste of time. Many opposition leaders and conservative politicians eventually revealed that Johnston had ties to the Chinese regime, and formally asked Trudeau’s government to replace him as soon as possible.
Since the rise of President Xi Jinping, many experts and politicians have been considering the Chinese regime as a threatening power whose main goal is to replace the United States’ influence in the geopolitical sphere.
