Election Interference: Canada Announces Inquiry Into Alleged China, Russia Obstruction

Canadian authorities announced a public inquiry to investigate alleged election interference conducted by China and Russia.

Officials tasked a judge to lead the inquiry, which has been seen as a victory for conservative politicians in the opposition who accused the current government for months of failing to respond to the allegations sufficiently.

Canadian Election Interference

On Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government assigned Quebec Court of Appeal Justice Marie-Josee Hogue to lead the public inquiry. During a news conference, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said that foreign interference in Canadian democratic institutions is "unacceptable."

He added that Justice Hogue will be tasked with examining and assessing alleged interference by China, Russia, and other foreign states and non-state actors. Trudeau's government has come face-to-face with growing criticism over several months.

This comes after various media reports surfaced that alleged that China has tried to interfere in the 2019 and 2021 Canadian elections. Another report accused Beijing of being involved in an intimidation campaign that targeted Conservative Party lawmaker Michael Chong and his family, as per Aljazeera.

The report immediately stoked condemnation and prompted Ottawa to expel a Chinese diplomat in Toronto earlier this year. The situation comes as China has consistently denied having any role in interference in Canada's internal affairs and has called the allegations "groundless."

However, the accusations have raised tensions between Beijing and Ottawa, as the two's relationship has been frosty for several years. This is because of various issues, including human rights, trade, and the arrests of Canadian and Chinese citizens.

Trudeau previously assigned former Governor General David Johnston to investigate the allegations of Chinese interference in March. However, the latter stepped down from that responsibility in June, saying that a "highly partisan atmosphere" made it impossible to complete the task properly.

Alleged Involvement of China and Russia

LeBlanc said that China is not the only foreign actor that is believed to be seeking to undermine democratic institutions in Canada or other Western democracies. According to Forbes, he added that this challenge is not unique to Canada.

Despite Trudeau's actions, the Canadian prime minister initially denied the possibility of Canada's elections being interfered with. Earlier this year, he suggested that the country has some of the best and most robust elections worldwide.

Trudeau also said that all Canadians could have total confidence that the results of the elections in 2019 and 2021 were determined by Canadians and Canadians alone at the voting booth. But the leader of Canada's Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre, said that his party would not hesitate to call out Trudeau and other members of the Liberal Party for trying to sweep the issue under the rug.

The situation comes as China is known for regularly using threats against family members to intimidate critics in the Chinese diaspora. The incident that caused relations between Ottawa and Beijing to plummet was the detention of former diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor.

That occurred shortly after Canadian officials decided to arrest the chief financial officer of telecoms giant Huawei, Meng Wanzhou, and the daughter of the company's founder after the U.S. requested the move, accusing the latter of fraud, said the Associated Press.