Trudeau Should’ve Called for Official Investigation Into Chinese Election Interference Allegations, Says Poilievre

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre rises to question the government during question period on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Sept. 26, 2022. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told MPs in the House today that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should’ve called for an official investigation into allegations that China interfered in Canada’s 2019 election as soon as he was briefed on the matter in January.

“Ten months ago, CSIS informed the prime minister of allegations that a foreign government had interfered in our elections with illegal financing,” Poilievre said during question period on Nov. 17.

“The prime minister should have informed the chief electoral officer so that that could be investigated.”

Poilievre was referring to a report published by Global News on Nov. 7 alleging that Trudeau was briefed by intelligence officials in January who said the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had covertly funded 11 candidates to influence outcomes in the 2019 federal election.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland responded to Poilievre’s statement in the House by saying the federal government “understands that there are dictatorships in the world that are actively trying to undermine democracies.”

“I have no illusions about the nature of those systems,” she said. “Our national security agencies are actively monitoring the threat posed by these regimes.”

Trudeau was not present in the House to respond directly to Poilievre, as his southeast Asia trip with Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and International Trade Minister Mary Ng is still ongoing.

Xi-Trudeau Confrontation

Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Nov. 16 confronted Trudeau during a brief interaction captured by reporters at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.

Xi told Trudeau he shouldn’t have “leaked” details to the media of a previous conversation the two leaders had on Nov. 15.

“Everything we discuss has been leaked to the paper; that’s not appropriate,” Xi told Trudeau through a translater.

“That’s not how, the way the conversation was conducted. If there is sincerity on your part…” Xi added, but finished the sentence without translation, saying in Chinese, “we will proceed with mutual respect, otherwise the result will be hard to say.”

Trudeau told Xi that Canada believes “in free and open and frank dialogue.”

“That is what we will continue to have. We will continue to look to work constructively together, but there will be things we will disagree on,” Trudeau said.

Conservative MPs have voiced concern about the federal government’s lack of action in responding to the allegations of election interference.

Michael Chong, Conservatives’ foreign affairs critic, told reporters on Parliament Hill that Trudeau should be required to identify all the federal candidates who were alleged to have received money from the Chinese regime.

“I think the prime minister needs to be telling Canadians about who the 11 candidates were that received illicit funds from Beijing,” Chong said on Nov. 16

“Are they members of the House of Commons? Are they candidates in the next federal election? Canadians deserve answers.”

Andrew Chen and Isaac Teo contributed to this report.