Canadian Prime Minister Justine Trudeau has been warned by intelligence officials that China has allegedly been targeting his country with a vast campaign of foreign interference that includes a clandestine network of at least 11 federal candidates that ran in the 2019 elections.
The allegations, which were delivered to Trudeau and several cabinet members in a series of briefings and memos, include other details. These are Beijing's attempts to further its influence globally and, in turn, subvert Canada's democratic process.
China Warning
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) released recent information that claimed those efforts by China involved payments through intermediaries to candidates affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This involved placing agents into the offices of MPs in order to influence politics and sought to co-opt and corrupt former Canadian officials.
This was an attempt made to gain leverage in Ottawa and the intelligence claimed that Beijing mounted aggressive campaigns to punish Canadian politicians who the CCP considered threats to its interests, as per Global News.
The CSIS noted that it was not able to answer some questions regarding the intelligence but confirmed that it has identified the PRC's foreign interference within the country. This could include covert funding to influence election outcomes.
The agency's briefings did not identify the 2019 candidates that were allegedly sponsored by the CCP. However, it alleged election interference network included members from both the Liberal and Conservative parties.
According to The Guardian, amid the intelligence reports, Prime Minister Trudeau warned that China was "play[ing] aggressive games" in order to undermine democratic institutions. The official's comments on Monday followed the reports of Beijing's reported efforts within the country.
Undermining Democracy
The allegations came on the same day that a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Russia previously interfered in elections in the United States. They are also likely to intensify concerns regarding the expanse of foreign intrusion in Canadian domestic politics.
On Monday afternoon, Trudeau said that the Canadian government has already taken significant measures to strengthen the integrity of election processes and other systems. He added that they would continue to invest in the battle against election interference or foreign interference in democracy and institutions.
Despite the reports, it remained unclear whether the CSIS of the Canadian federal government believed that the efforts were successful. The country's former ambassador to China, David Mulroney, said that the allegations were "far more aggressive" than officials had previously suspected.
Trudeau also said that the world is changing and noted that sometimes, this could be going in a frightening direction. He added that we need to make sure that the people responsible for keeping us safe every single day are able to do that properly.
The situation comes as more than a decade ago, in 2010, former director of CSIS Richard Fadden said during an interview that there were "several municipal politicians in British Columbia" and Crown ministers "in at least two provinces" whom the agency believed were under the general influence of a foreign government, The Epoch Times reported.
