Canada

Two weeks ago, Justin Trudeau was at pains to dismiss explosive reports of electoral interference as inaccurate or racist. But backed into a very tight corner, a desperate prime minister came out with all guns blazing on Monday.

It seemed Trudeau, whose job is looking increasingly precarious by the day, was intent on creating so much noise that it would drown out the calls for a public inquiry into this matter.

Canadian opposition parties are welcome to suggest who should serve as the “special rapporteur” charged with overseeing investigations into alleged Chinese interference, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accused Prime Minster Justin Trudeau of playing into China’s hands by refusing to hold a public inquiry on foreign interference.

Mr. Poilievre called a news conference Tuesday to respond to the Prime Minister’s decision to name two closed door panels to investigate Chinese election interference that would later be reviewed by a special rapporteur appointed by him.

That was a neat trick the Prime Minister pulled off Monday evening.

I don’t mean just the breathtaking change in communications strategy, on the issue that threatens to devour his government: foreign (specifically Chinese) interference in our elections. The sullen stonewalling of the last several weeks was instantly transformed into a dazzling pinwheel of apparent activity: multiple investigations, a pledge to consult on implementing a foreign agent registry, a promise to appoint a National Counter Foreign Interference Co-ordinator, a vow to start implementing some of the recommendations it had received from previous investigations, etc.

A flurry of leaked intelligence reports has reignited allegations that China interfered in Canada’s recent federal elections, kicking off a fierce debate over possible responses to Beijing’s meddling.

But the leaks also run the risk of harming Canada’s reputation among its allies, experts warn, as the country’s spy agency struggles to respond to mounting public concern.

Opposition leaders have pushed the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, for a public inquiry into how China attempted to sway the result of two federal elections in its favour.

To understand why Justin Trudeau appeared before reporters on Monday evening to outline new steps in his government’s response to China’s alleged attempts to interfere in Canada’s political process, one only has to take note of what was said about Trudeau in the House of Commons on Monday afternoon.

In the first question period since the controversy over foreign interference came to a boil, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre alleged that “for 10 years the Communist dictatorship in Beijing has been helping the prime minister” and that “we have had 10 years of cover-ups from the prime minister.”

Trudeau needs to resign. He’s a China whore.

Finally and inevitably, he waved the white flag.

An inquiry if necessary, but not necessarily an inquiry, will likely be called to probe allegations of Chinese interference in Canada’s elections.

This after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau surrendered to intense internal and external pressure and reluctantly pledged action after weeks of denying any further action was needed.

Singh should be orchestrating Juniors ouster, this rapporteur farce is a deliberate waste of time.

Trudeau asked the national security committee, which he has often ignored in the past, to investigate election interference

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is asking a parliamentary committee, an independent review agency and a special rapporteur to investigate claims China influenced Canada’s elections unfairly.

When the word came that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was going to make an announcement about foreign interference in Canadian elections, speculation mounted about what new thing this would be.

The answer was that there wasn’t much new, except for an unnamed new person, in the unfamiliar new role of “special rapporteur,” who would be empowered to recommend what should be done next. Including whether there should be an inquiry.

Make no mistake, this was a scrambling stall tactic, a way to hold off the critics baying for a public inquiry into Beijing’s interference in Canada’s elections. Those critics include the NDP, Mr. Trudeau’s partners in a parliamentary alliance that keeps his minority government in power.

When I was initially contacted by the media last month concerning the Chinese government’s reported interference in our 2019 and 2021 general elections, I stated that a public inquiry was required to pursue the matter as fully as possible by an independent authority. It was important, I believed, for the full restoration of the trust and the confidence in our electoral system.

Nothing that has been publicly divulged since has caused me to reconsider my call for a public inquiry. To the contrary, I have only been further convinced that it is the only course of action that will satisfy Canadians in coming to terms with what CSIS documents described as a brazen invasion of our electoral system by Beijing. My reaction would be the same no matter which foreign entity was sowing doubt in our democracy: Our elections belong to us and to no one else, and the mere threat that this is not 100-per-cent the case demands significant action.