‘China is trying to interfere’ but Canadians alone determined recent elections: Trudeau – National | 24CA News

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mentioned Friday China is attempting to intrude in Canadian democracy, “including our elections,” however mentioned it stays clear Canadians had been those who determined the end result of the 2 current federal elections.

Trudeau spoke to reporters Friday after a remaining public inquiry report into the federal authorities’s use of emergency powers through the so known as “Freedom Convoy” protests in Ottawa final yr was launched. The report discovered the federal government met the “very high threshold” for invoking the act for the primary time in Canadian historical past.

“I have been saying for years, including on the floor of the House of Commons, that China is trying to interfere in our democracy, in the processes in our country, including during our elections,” Trudeau mentioned.

“We are aware of this and I can assure you that our intelligence and security agencies have been working very hard over the past many years to develop more and more tools to counter this, to make sure that our institutions are kept safe. This is not a new phenomenon.”

He added: “All Canadians can have total confidence that the outcomes of the 2019 and 2021 elections were determined by Canadians and Canadians alone at the voting booth.”

His feedback come after the Globe and Mail put out a report Friday saying China deployed a “sophisticated strategy” within the 2021 election to defeat Conservative candidates and try to assist the federal Liberals in the direction of a minority authorities, citing nationwide safety memos.

The report follows months of unique reporting by Global News into allegations of tried Chinese interference, beginning with a Nov. 7, 2022, report that Canadian intelligence officers had warned Trudeau that China has allegedly been concentrating on Canada with an enormous marketing campaign of overseas interference, which incorporates funding a clandestine community of no less than 11 federal candidates working within the 2019 election, in line with Global News sources.

On Dec. 21, 2022, Global News reported that an unredacted 2020 nationwide safety doc alleges that Beijing used an in depth community of group teams to hide the move of funds between Chinese officers and Canadian members of an election interference community, all in an effort to advance its personal political agenda within the 2019 federal contest.

And on Feb. 8, 2023, Global News reported that nationwide safety officers drafted a warning for Trudeau and his workplace greater than a yr earlier than the 2019 federal election, alleging that Chinese brokers had been “assisting Canadian candidates running for political offices,” in line with a Privy Council Office doc reviewed by Global News.

2:302017 memo ready for Trudeau warned of China’s meddling

Trudeau has beforehand mentioned that China was enjoying “aggressive games” with the democracies of Canada and different Western nations. In his feedback on Friday, he appeared to reference part of the Globe report that mentioned China’s former consul-general in Vancouver boasted in 2021 that she had helped defeat two Conservative MPs.

“The fact that a Chinese diplomat would try to take credit for things that happen is not something that is unseen in diplomatic circles around the world. The fact is, the work that CSIS has done…will always ensure that any risks to our election or to the integrity of those elections get highlighted to Canadians,” Trudeau mentioned Friday.

The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa has beforehand mentioned China has at all times adhered to the precept of non-interference within the inside affairs of different nations.

Under a federal protocol, there could be a public announcement if a panel of senior bureaucrats decided that an incident — or an accumulation of incidents — threatened Canada’s capability to have a free and truthful election.

There was no such announcement in 2021 or regarding the 2019 election. In each ballots, the Liberals had been returned to authorities with minority mandates whereas the Conservatives shaped the official Opposition.

On the subject of Chinese interference in Canada’s democracy, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre mentioned Friday: “It’s clear that Justin Trudeau has been covering up the interference of the authoritarian regime in Beijing.”

“He claims he never knew anything about it, but is it really believable? Is it really believable that CSIS would write an entire report and share it with foreign governments without actually telling our own prime minister,” Poilievre mentioned.

“Justin Trudeau knew about this interference, and he covered it up because he benefited from it.”

As an answer, Poilievre mentioned he wish to see a public registry of overseas actors created.

“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 mentioned.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino mentioned late final yr the Liberal authorities is getting ready to seek the advice of the general public on the potential creation of a overseas agent registry as a method of stopping outdoors interference in Canadian affairs.

— with information from The Canadian Press

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