(OTTAWA) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday reiterated that he was never informed of Chinese interference in the 2019 Canadian election, accusing his opponents of importing Trump’s tactics into the country.
The Prime Minister, who came to the weekend cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning, said, “He was never informed on this. [une ingérence de Pékin] Intelligence services that keep him up to date on “all these issues”.
This claim contradicts a report published by Global News Network.
“Canadian intelligence services warn PM Trudeau that China secretly funded candidates for 2019 election,” the network headlined two weeks ago, citing anonymous sources.
The opposition wants the government to publicly reveal the identities of at least 11 federal candidates, both conservatives and liberals, who benefited from the Beijing scheme, according to Global News.
Liberals argue that there is a forum for this kind of intelligence: the National Security Committee of Parliamentarians. and intelligence. Its members, deputies and senators, hold “Top Secret” level security clearance.
The import of republican tactics
Justin Trudeau took the opportunity to lash out at his political rivals. He accused them of engaging in Republican tactics in the United States by questioning the integrity of elections in Canada.
“We see a little bit, at the moment, the people we saw south of the border are playing games: “Oh, the elections are not legitimate, we lost because of the influence of other countries,” he attacked the journalists. Microphone.
“This is a very serious allegation,” lamented the prime minister, arguing that “according to all the information we have received, nothing has affected the outcome of our elections.”
A downside from DGE
Information presented in a Global News report prompted Justin Trudeau to take Chinese President Xi Jinping to account — which, in turn, A full-scale exchange between the two men on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) reported that the Chinese Consulate in Toronto was running a scheme to covertly transfer funds to a network of candidates and agents in Beijing who were then employed by the English network through their campaign.
At the urging of the Conservative Party, with the support of other political parties, the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs began a study on the case on Tuesday. It all started with a statement from Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault.
He argues that caution should be exercised in drawing conclusions about the integrity of the electoral system, particularly by relying on media reporting rather than a full investigation or court ruling.
“You have to be careful […] Before judging the impartiality of an election from a newspaper article, because “we don’t know what happened and in which constituency”, he argued that he did not want to “question the work of a journalist”.
Asked if he had doubts about the legitimacy of the 2019 and 2021 elections, Stéphane Perrault replied that he had “no reason” to think otherwise.
