Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has long rejected allegations that China interfered in his country’s last two general elections. No electoral districts were affected in 2021, he said last week, even as evidence of China’s meddling continued to mount in an ongoing investigation into foreign interference.
Mr. Trudeau is expected to testify in Ottawa on Wednesday at 6 p.m Public listening of the inquiry, which he was forced to launch after an extraordinary series of leaks last year to Canadian news outlets of intelligence reports about Chinese interference.
During the hearing, Trudeau will likely face harsh accusations that he did not take the threat of foreign interference seriously enough because his Liberal Party is believed to have benefited from China’s actions in the 2021 and 2019 general elections.
Trudeau’s long-awaited testimony is expected to conclude this round of public hearings, which over the past three weeks have featured his closest aides, intelligence officials and political party leaders, as well as politicians believed to be the target or the beneficiary of Chinese state interference.
Intelligence officials have long warned of the threat of foreign interference in Canadian democracy.
But the public hearings – through the release of intelligence reports and sworn testimony from witnesses – have painted a fuller picture of how emerging foreign powers such as China and India have sought to advance their interests by increasingly drawing on diaspora communities and exploiting Canadian democratic institutions.
While the inquiry did not single out any countries, most hearings focused on China, which, according to an intelligence report, “is – by far – the most active” in meddling in Canada.
China’s “activities are sophisticated, pervasive, persistent, and directed against all levels of civil society across the country,” the report said.
China’s efforts in Canada – as well as in other countries – have increased since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2013, experts say. The Chinese government has interfered in foreign elections by gaining influence over community organizations, influential figures and Chinese-language media — and extending its reach to diasporas around the world, experts say.
“These foreign interference efforts are becoming increasingly embedded in community networks that connect federal, provincial and municipal politics in major Canadian cities,” says another intelligence report on China’s activities, adding that these “networks are potential tools of influence against Canadian political officials.” .”
The Chinese embassy in Canada has denied any interference in Canadian politics.
After first being elected in 2015, Trudeau pushed for a free trade deal with China as part of an overall policy to build friendly ties with Beijing, and initially rejected security warnings, including that it would allow to Huawei Technologies, the Chinese telecommunications company, to work in Canada’s wireless networks.
But relations turned hostile when Canada arrested Huawei’s chief financial officer following a U.S. extradition request, leading Beijing to detain two Canadians in China in retaliation. In 2022, Trudeau’s government formally shifted its policy towards China, calling it that “an increasingly disruptive global power.“
However, the main opposition Conservative Party has taken a tougher stance against China, pushing legislation condemning China over its human rights record and criticizing its security crackdown in Hong Kong.
In the 2021 Canadian election, a government running a media campaign, with suspected ties to the Chinese, “wanted to discourage Canadians from supporting the Conservative Party,” according to an intelligence report made public during the hearings.
Erin O’Toole, the leader of the Conservatives in 2021, demonstrated at the inquiry last week that he believed that his party had lost five to nine districts in that year’s election because of foreign interference — though not enough to change the overall outcome of the race.
In response, Trudeau told reporters: “I can understand why someone who has lost an election is looking for reasons other than themselves why they might have lost an election.”
The Conservatives won the popular vote in 2021. But the Liberal Party won the most seats, and Trudeau returned to power with a minority government.
The commission of inquiry, led by Quebec Court of Appeal judge Marie-Josée Hogue, is due to release a preliminary report in May. The commission is expected to issue a final report on how to address foreign interference after holding another round of public hearings next fall.
