Committee Report Demanding Inquiry on Election Interference to Be Tabled in Commons

Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs chair Bardish Chagger waits to begin a meeting of the committee, in Ottawa, Feb. 21, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

A House committee report demanding an independent inquiry into election interference is expected to be introduced in the Commons on March 8, in response to reports of Beijing’s meddling in Canada’s last two federal elections.

Liberal MP Bardish Chagger, who is chair of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC) told MPs at the committee meeting on March 7 that the report will likely be presented today.

“The report—stay tuned—it will be presented in the House [on March 8] if everything goes well,” said Liberal MP Bardish Chagger, chair of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC).

“That report will be presented,” she added, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.

The report says cabinet must “launch a national public inquiry into allegations of foreign interference in Canada’s democratic system including but not limited to allegations of interference in general elections by foreign governments.” The inquiry must also “investigate abuse of diaspora groups by hostile foreign governments.”

It also says that any appointee named to head the inquiry “be selected by unanimous agreement” of Liberal, Conservative, NDP, and Bloc Québécois House leaders.

PROC members passed a motion last week urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to launch an inquiry to investigate media reports of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) foreign interference operations in Canada that include, but not limited to, Beijing’s meddling in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

Liberal MPs on the committee voted against the motion introduced by NDP MP Peter Julian.

“Canadians need answers. Canada needs an independent, non-partisan public inquiry,” he wrote on social media on March 8.

Election Interference

Allegations of Beijing’s interference stemmed from reports by the Globe and Mail in recent weeks, based on leaks from national security sources alleging the Chinese consulates in Canada formulated a sophisticated strategy that aimed to re-elect a Liberal minority in the 2021 election while defeating Conservative MPs critical of the communist regime.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has opposed an independent inquiry, saying there are existing mechanisms to deal with the matter, pointing to the National Security and Intelligence Committee and PROC, which has been investigating China’s interference in the 2019 election since last November. The committee launched its study after a Global News report alleged that intelligence officials had warned Trudeau and cabinet that Beijing provided illegal funding to at least 11 candidates in the 2019 race.

Facing mounting pressure for a public inquiry, the prime minister announced this week that he will appoint an independent special rapporteur to look into foreign interference in Canada’s elections. Trudeau further confirmed on March 7, that the rapporteur will be named in the coming weeks.

Bloc MP Alain Therrien described the issue as a test for Parliament.

“If we can’t assess the integrity of our elections in a transparent way, honestly, we’re in big trouble,” Therrien said at the PROC meeting on March 7. “We’re straying into banana republic territory here with all due respect to bananas.”

Bloc MP Marie-Hélène Gaudreau told the committee her constituents were outraged by allegations of CCP agents interfered in the 2019 and 2021 campaigns and were calling her office “daily” over the issue.

“People believe the government is afraid,” Gaudreau said, citing recent polls that said the majority of Canadians are concerned about Chinese interference.

“I spoke to some citizens yesterday who are saying to me, ‘What the heck, what is happening now with the government?'” she said.

“I am not the only person embarrassed by all of this,” she added. “We want to save our democracy.”

An Angus Reid survey published this month showed nearly 70 percent of Canadians believe the federal government is “afraid to stand up” to Beijing, amid mounting evidence showing Beijing’s interfered in Canadian elections.

Peter Wilson contributed to this report