Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said friday China trying to interfere in Canadian democracy, “including our elections,” but said it was clear Canadians were the ones who decided the outcome of two recent federal elections.
Trudeau spoke to reporters on Friday after the final public inquiry report into the use of emergency powers by the federal government during the so-called “”.convoy of freedomThere were protests in Ottawa last year Free, The report found that for the first time in Canadian history the government met a “very high threshold” for invoking the Act.
Trudeau said, “I’ve been saying for years, including on the floor of the House of Commons, that China is trying to interfere with our democracy, with the processes in our country, during our elections.”
“We are aware of this and I can assure you that our intelligence and security agencies have been working hard over the last several years to develop more and more tools to counter this, to ensure that May our institutions remain safe. This is not a new trend.”
He added: “All Canadians can have complete confidence that the results of the 2019 and 2021 elections were determined by Canadians and Canadians at the polling station only.”
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His comments came after the Globe and Mail released a report on Friday that said China employed “sophisticated tactics” to defeat Conservative candidates in the 2021 election, citing national security memos and a minority government. Per attempted to support the federal Liberals.
The report follows months of exclusive reporting by Global News into allegations of Chinese interference efforts, Reports starting November 7, 2022 According to Global News sources, Canadian intelligence officials warned Trudeau that China is reportedly targeting Canada with a vast campaign of foreign interference, including the involvement of at least 11 federal candidates running in the 2019 election. Funding a clandestine network is involved.
Global News on December 21, 2022 Reportedly an declassified 2020 national security document The allegation is that Beijing used an extensive network of community groups to hide the flow of money between Chinese officials and Canadian members of the election interference network in an effort to advance its own political agenda in the 2019 federal contest.
and on February 8, 2023, Global News reports that national security officials drafted a warning For Trudeau and his office more than a year before the 2019 federal election, Chinese agents were “assisting Canadian candidates running for political offices,” according to a Privy Council Office document reviewed by Global News.
Trudeau has said this before China was playing “aggressive game” With the democracies of Canada and other western countries. In his comments on Friday, he appeared to reference part of a Globe report that said China’s former consul general in Vancouver claimed he had helped two Conservative MPs defeat the 2021 election.
“The fact that a Chinese diplomat would try to take credit for things that did not happen is something that is unheard of in diplomatic circles around the world. The fact is that the work that CSIS does … it will always ensure that any risk to the integrity of our elections or those elections is exposed to Canadians,” Trudeau said Friday.
The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa has previously stated that China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.
Under a federal protocol, there would be a public announcement if a panel of senior bureaucrats determined that an event – or an accumulation of events – jeopardizes Canada’s ability to hold a free and fair election.
There was no such announcement regarding 2021 or 2019 elections. In both ballots, the Liberals were returned to government with a minority mandate, while the Conservatives formed the Official Opposition.
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Conservative leader on Chinese interference in Canadian democracy Pierre Poilievre Said on Friday: “It is clear that Justin Trudeau is covering up interference from the authoritarian regime in Beijing.”
“He claims he knew nothing about it, but is it really believable? Is it really believable that CSIS would write a full report and pass it on to foreign governments without actually telling our own prime minister? Will share with,” Poilievre said.
“Justin Trudeau knew about this interference, and he covered it up because he benefited from it.”
As a solution, Poilievre said he would like to see a public registry of foreign actors.
“We need a public registry of all those who do paid work on behalf of foreign authoritarian regimes to influence or manipulate our politics or government,” he said.
minister of public security marco mendicino It was said late last year that the Liberal government was preparing to consult the public on the possible creation of a foreign agent registry as a means of preventing outside interference in Canadian affairs.
With files from The Canadian Press
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