Canadian Political Parties Call For Investigation Into Chinese Regime Interference In Federal Election

On March 1st, the Conservative Party of Canada and the Justin Trudeau-supporting New Democratic Party both were called in Parliament for a government investigation into Beijing’s interfered 2021 election, according to foreign media reports. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called for an independent public inquiry, to be led by members of the Canadian Parliament elected unanimously by all federal parties, into what the Chinese authoritarian regimes are doing in Canada and whether any political party was aware of these actions. Gerald Butts, former chief secretary of Justin Trudeau’s staff, Senator Ian Shugart and former CSIS director Richard Fadden, among others, have also called for a public inquiry. There are also reports that Beijing interfered in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 federal elections to secure Justin Trudeau’s re-election through political contributions, fake social media messages, and funding of voter mobilization campaigns by Chinese Canadian volunteers. Justin Trudeau said that China did attempt to interfere in Canada’s elections, but that such interference from China and Russia is prevalent in democracies around the world. He asserted that the 2019 and 2021 elections have not changed the results due to foreign influence, and “that does not mean, nor have we ever contended, that there aren’t ongoing efforts by countries like China to interfere in our democracies.”