Cory Morgan: China’s Interference in Canadian Elections: Where’s the Outrage?

The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa in a file photo. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)

Commentary

Electoral integrity is the cornerstone of a functional democracy. Citizens must feel confident that whether their preferred candidate won or lost, the process was at least fair and uncorrupted. If citizens lose faith in the integrity of their elections, the foundation of democracy will crumble.

People are rightly upset when stories of domestic malfeasance in elections surface, whether it’s an action so minor as a candidate not reporting small campaign contributions or as major as meddling with mail-in ballots. When these things happen, the outcome of the race is questioned and confidence in the process is undermined. The only way to repair the damage is to ensure that offenders are exposed and punished while further controls are put into place to discourage abuse of the process.

There is something much worse than having a local candidate or even a political party stretching or breaking electoral rules—something that infuriates citizens and shatters trust in the process. That something is foreign interference in elections. Nobody likes to imagine their democratic process has been manipulated by a nation with nefarious intent.

For years, opponents of then-president Donald Trump politically and in the media pushed the story of his alleged collusion with Russia to win the 2016 election. Even though the Mueller investigation concluded definitively there was no such collusion, some in the media are still banging the Trump/Russia collusion drum. They won’t give it up and the reason is that if indeed there was even a shred of truth to such a deal having been made, Trump would be finished. Trump has some pretty staunch and committed supporters, but if it were proven that there was direct interference in the election by Russia, most would abandon Trump in a heartbeat. Loyalty to their nation and democratic principles would come first. But again, there was no collusion.

Here in Canada, we have had credible reports indicating the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been meddling in federal elections for years. The rumblings of interference were strong enough that the government created a Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections task force in February 2019. That task force was supposed to track activities and warn citizens of any electoral interference. Two federal elections have been held since the task force was formed and leaked CSIS documents indicate that the CCP has potentially interfered in both of them. Not a single warning was issued from the task force.

When questioned in the House of Commons last November about possible CCP interference in elections, Prime Minister Trudeau said, “I have never gotten any information from any of our security agencies or police officers or intelligence officials or public servants any information of a federal candidate receiving money from China, as the allegations highlighted.”

Privy Council Office documents have revealed that intelligence officials informed the government in February 2020 of possible electoral interference and funding of candidates in the 2019 federal election. Did the prime minister really not get the memo?

Unredacted security reports have been leaking out to the media and they paint a picture of a well-organized campaign being conducted by the CCP to control Canada’s electoral outcomes in 2019 and 2021. While these revelations have been making rounds in the news, they aren’t causing the furor they should. Much of the response from legacy media outlets has been to cover other stories, or report on the opposition party’s response to the issue rather than the government’s.

If such evidence of foreign election interference had been uncovered in the United States, it would make headlines for months and could lead to the government’s downfall. In Canada, this story is barely breaking the top 10 news items.

Trudeau’s response to the story has been focused more on plugging the leaks from CSIS rather than dealing with what the leaks exposed when he said: “It’s certainly a sign that security within CSIS needs to be reviewed. And I’m expecting CSIS to take the issue very seriously.”

By all appearances, CSIS had been trying to discreetly warn the government of the CCP electoral interference issue for years but had been ignored. It is of little wonder somebody within the organization felt compelled to take on the role of being a whistleblower and is leaking the documents to the Globe and Mail. He or she is clearly very concerned about this issue.

The legacy media double standard on display is galling. The disproven Trump/Russia collusion story still has legs with some journalists, while in Canada the very real story of CCP interference in two federal elections is already becoming yesterday’s news. News outlets should feel it’s their journalistic duty to keep this story alive, yet they appear to be more interested in covering the latest follies from Harry and Meghan.

Canadians often pride themselves on their amicable and docile nature. Right now though, citizens could really use a dose of American-style indignation and start demanding answers from both the media and political leaders on the electoral interference issue.

If we don’t have free unfettered elections, we don’t have a democracy.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.