Trudeau announces investigation into allegations of Chinese meddling in Canadian election – BBC News 中文

“I will appoint an independent special commissioner with a broad mandate and expert advice on countering interference and strengthening our democracy,” Trudeau said.

He said the commissioner has not yet been determined and said the appointment will be made in the next few days.

Trudeau also said he would ask MPs, as well as the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians in the House of Lords, to begin a review of foreign interference and report back to Parliament.

He also said Canada has long been aware of attempts by China, Iran and Russia to interfere. These countries, along with several other NGOs, “have attempted to interfere not only with our democracy, but with our country as a whole.”

“This is not a new problem,” he said.

A series of reports by the Globe and Mail and Global News TV in recent weeks, based on information leaked by Canadian intelligence sources, has detailed allegations that the CCP intends to interfere in the past two federal competitions.

Chinese officials dismissed the reports as “nonsense and nonsense,” calling them “hype.”

Conservative Canadian politicians publicly claimed to know of interference in the 2021 general election and believed they lost some seats as a result, but these seats were not enough to change the outcome of the election. In the end, Trudeau’s Liberal Party won the election with 41 seats.

A federal public report last week found that attempted interference in the 2021 federal election did not affect the outcome.

Rival parties in the federal election – the New Democrats and the Conservatives – have pushed for an “independent and public” inquiry into the claims.

In response to Trudeau’s statement, the NDP criticized the National Security and Intelligence Commission’s investigation, saying it was not “an appropriate substitute for a public inquiry.”

“The way to stop foreign actors operating covertly is to refuse to keep their secrets,” said NDP MP Peter Julian.

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre called Trudeau’s announcement a “cover up” by the Liberals “to avoid accountability”.

Trudeau responded to the criticism by saying that the commissioner would have the power to suggest a public inquiry.

“We will follow their advice,” Trudeau said, adding that the decision would be one of the first tasks after the commissioner’s appointment.

“I know there are people out there who think it’s not enough,” Trudeau said. “I get that. That’s why we’re entrusting further work to someone who is unbiased.”

Also on Monday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said they had opened an investigation into how information about the alleged interference leaked to the Canadian media.

Last week, a poll by the Angus Reid Institute found that about 65 per cent of Canadians said they believed Beijing had tried to interfere in the recent federal election.

Two-thirds of Canadians also said the federal government should do more to combat election interference.

Leaked intelligence information says Beijing’s diplomats and proxies in Canada are trying to push the election toward a Liberal victory.

According to The Globe and Mail and Global News Television, intelligence sources are concerned that China has pressured its consulate in Canada to support certain candidates.

Highlighted allegations in the report include:

This week, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang called the allegations “non-existent” during a meeting with his Canadian counterpart, Melanie Joly. Jolie once said that Canada’s internal affairs allow no foreign interference.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has previously said it was sufficient for the allegations to be investigated by a House of Commons committee.

He said at the time that he believed there were “many inaccuracies” in the Canadian media’s reporting, and said he was satisfied with the progress of a House of Commons committee investigation that began last November.

But opposition parties, as well as a former electoral director, have called for a public inquiry.

Concerns about foreign actors meddling in Canadian affairs are not new.

In 2021, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) stated that it continued to observe “steady and sometimes rising” foreign interference, and pointed out that such interference “may undermine trust and threaten the integrity of our democratic institutions.”

Common methods of interference include cyberattacks, disinformation and corrupt funding, according to public reports from intelligence agencies.

Last week, Trudeau’s national security adviser Jody Thomas (Jody Thomas) said in a hearing before a parliamentary committee that Beijing has tried to interfere in the past two Canadian elections, and Trudeau has been receiving related briefings.

Thomas said that the Canadian government is taking solid actions to deal with this issue, and Canadians should have confidence that the results of the past two general elections were “fair and legal.”

Last Wednesday, the federal government’s public report came to a similar conclusion – that the 2021 federal election meddling attempt did not affect the outcome.