Canada should hold hearings on foreign meddling in elections, but shouldn’t start a formal public inquiry into allegations that Chinese diplomats interfered in recent federal campaigns, a watchdog appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
Former Governor General David Johnston said foreign governments are undoubtedly trying to influence candidates and voters in Canada. However, there is no convincing evidence that Trudeau’s government knowingly failed to act on national security intelligence on the matter, he said.
“The failures I have found relate to substantial gaps in the communication and processing of intelligence information as opposed to the prime minister, ministers or senior officials ignoring intelligence recommendations,” Johnston said in a report released on Tuesday in Ottawa.
Trudeau tapped Johnston in March to look into election interference amid media reports that alleged China sought to tip the scales against some opposition candidates to help Trudeau’s Liberal Party during the 2019 and 2021 elections.
The allegations had roiled Trudeau’s government and he’d promised to follow Johnston’s recommendations. A public inquiry that revealed he fumbled or downplayed warnings from national security officials may have been politically damaging.
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Johnston was asked to determine whether a public inquiry was necessary and to deliver a series of reports on the broader issue through October. His answer on a public inquiry was a definitive “no,” saying that he’d been able to review all the relevant facts over the past two months and that a public inquiry would be hindered by the fact that most evidence couldn’t be presented in public.
“The intelligence I have reviewed is, and must remain, secret,” he said. “As a result, the reality is any credible public inquiry could not be public at all.”
Lack of ‘Context’
But Johnston said there are significant problems in sharing intelligence with those who needed it, including Conservative lawmaker Michael Chong, whose family was allegedly targeted in Hong Kong by Chinese officials because of his hard line against Beijing. Canada kicked out a Chinese diplomat after that incident was revealed.
Instead of a public inquiry on the China issue, Johnston said he’ll hold public hearings to determine how to improve the government’s response to foreign interference. That recommendation is unlikely to satisfy members of Parliament, who passed a motion calling for a public inquiry.
Johnston says he has been able to view materials that were leaked to Global News and The Globe and Mail, as well as additional classified information.
“When viewed in full context with all of the relevant intelligence, several leaked materials that raised legitimate questions turn out to have been misconstrued in some media reports, presumably because of the lack of this context,” he says in the report.
The narrative that has arisen from the media reports is that the Liberal government failed to act on foreign interference because it helped them politically and hurt the Conservative Party, he says.
One of the most “inflammatory” reports suggested that China filtered C$250,000 ($184,990) to candidates in the 2019 election, in violation of Canadian law, he said. Limited intelligence appears to show that China intended for funds to be sent to seven Liberal and four Conservative candidates through a community organization, political staff and — perhaps unwittingly — a provincial lawmaker in Ontario, according to Johnston’s report.
However, it’s uncertain whether any money was actually sent, and there’s no intelligence suggesting any federal candidates received those funds, Johnston said.
Johnston also examined the broader claim that an orchestrated Chinese influence machine was operating in Canada to return a minority Liberal government to power in 2021 and to ensure certain Conservative candidates were defeated.
There were indications that a few Chinese diplomats preferred the Liberals to the Conservatives in the election, Johnston wrote, “but there was no indication that the PRC had a plan to orchestrate a Liberal minority government in 2021.”
Instead of party preferences, the focus appears to have been on assisting pro-China candidates and marginalizing anti-China candidates, he said. He added the prime minister and ministers weren’t aware of any orchestrated effort to elect a Liberal minority government.
(Updates with additional context throughout)
