Election Interference Probe: What Has Been Announced so Far

And what the opposition is asking for

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on March 6, 2023. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

This week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that his government will appoint a special rapporteur to investigate allegations of China’s interference in Canadian elections.

He also said that two organizations, namely the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA), will be tasked with reviewing issues related to election interference.

The announcement comes amid intense pressure from opposition parties calling for a public inquiry to look into election integrity. The calls stem from mounting allegations of election meddling by the Chinese Communist Party that have been reported by media outlets citing leaked intelligence.

Meanwhile, MPs on the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (PROC) have been examining foreign election interference since November 2022.

Here’s a look at what has been announced and what the opposition is saying.

Special Rapporteur

In his announcement on March 6, Trudeau said the “independent special rapporteur” will have a “wide mandate” to make recommendations on combating interference and strengthening Canada’s democracy.

He said the chosen rapporteur will be an “eminent Canadian” and “someone impartial” whose appointment will be announced in the coming days.

Although the selection will be done by the government and not by Parliament, Trudeau said he’s open to listening to recommendations from other parties on the appointment.

The rapporteur will be tasked with examining the entire landscape of Canada’s national security agencies, including tools to counter foreign interference, the prime minister said.

Calling the debate around the issue of holding a public inquiry a partisan one, Trudeau said the rapporteur’s first task will be to recommend what kind of process is next required, such as a formal inquiry or another type of review process.

NSICOP

Formed in 2017, the NSICOP is a high-level parliamentary committee that reports to the prime minister, unlike other parliamentary committees.

Current members include MPs from different parties and one senator who hold “top secret” security clearances and are permanently bound to secrecy under the Security of Information Act.

The NSCIOP’s mandate includes reviewing Canada’s legislative, regulatory, policy, administrative, and financial framework for national security and intelligence.

Trudeau said at the March 6 press conference that the committee will be reviewing interference attempts in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

The committee has been publishing annual reports, with much of the content often redacted, advising of security threats facing Canada.

NSIRA

The NSIRA was established in 2019 as an independent and external review body that reports to Parliament.

It reviews activities of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and Communications Security Establishment (CSE), as well as the national security and intelligence activities of all other federal departments and agencies to ensure they are “lawful, reasonable and necessary.”

It also investigates complaints filed against those bodies.

Trudeau said the NSIRA has been monitoring whether information on foreign interference is flowing properly across the country’s intelligence agencies and government departments.

Counter-Foreign Interference Coordinator

Trudeau said he has charged Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino with establishing a counter-foreign interference coordinator. The office of this new role will ensure that the issue will be addressed “in a coordinated way” across different government departments and agencies.

A similar position exists in Australia.

Foreign Registry

Amid calls for creating a registry for foreign influence agents in Canada, Trudeau said  he has also tasked Mendicino with launching a consultation on the issue. He didn’t provide a timeline.

Conservative Sen. Leo Housakos has already tabled Bill S-237, an Act to establish the Foreign Influence Registry and to amend the Criminal Code. However, so far the bill has not received government support. In the last session of Parliament, former Tory MP Kenny Chiu had sought to do the same through his private member’s Bill C-282.

Due to his effort to establish a foreign agent registry in Canada, Chiu reportedly became a target of disinformation during the last election. He lost his seat in the B.C. riding of Steveston–Richmond East.

Meanwhile, the United States and Australia already have legislation in place to establish such a registry.

Calls for Public Inquiry

The Conservatives, NDP, and Bloc Québécois have called for a public inquiry into the issue of Chinese regime interference in Canadian elections. Tory Leader Pierre Poilievre said a special rapporteur “hand-picked by the Prime Minister is not the same as a true independent inquiry.”

A survey by Research Co. published on March 6 said that close to two-thirds (64 percent) of Canadians support calling an independent public inquiry into foreign interference in elections.

On March 2, opposition MPs on the PROC passed a motion calling for the Trudeau government to launch a national public inquiry into China’s interference in Canada’s elections.

Trudeau has rejected the calls for an inquiry.

Parliamentary Committee

PROC’s study of foreign election interference started on Nov. 1, 2022.

Over the course of four months, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc, National Security and Intelligence Advisor Jody Thomas, CSIS Director David Vigneault, Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault, and Commissioner of Canada Elections Caroline Simard, among others, have appeared as witnesses and testified before the committee.

In the committee’s last meeting, on March 7, the NDP joined the Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois to seek testimony from Trudeau’s chief of staff Katie Telford.

The attempt was unsuccessful as Liberal MPs filibustered the motion introduced by Tory MP Michael Cooper.

The meeting, which started at 11 a.m., was suspended at around 2 p.m. by Liberal MP and committee chair Bardish Chagger before a vote could take place.

In a scrum later after question period, MPs from the three opposition parties said they were ready to continue the meeting but Liberals MPs were not present and a quorum could not be reached.

That meeting saw the fourth attempt to summon Telford as a witness. Three previous attempts by Cooper to have her testify failed. The first two failed due to the NDP voting against his motions.

The third try, on March 1, succeeded in getting the NDP’s support, but due to disagreements on the language of the motion and amendments, time ran out before a vote could be cast.

Andrew Chen, Noé Chartier, Omid Ghoreishi, and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.