Trudeau 'has failed to protect our democracy' from China's threats, says Poilievre
'We will challenge China when we ought to, and we will cooperate with China when we must,' says Joly
Poilievre made the remarks in Vancouver while Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly was giving a speech in Toronto about the release of the Liberal government's forthcoming Indo-Pacific strategy.
"It's very troubling that the prime minister has known about allegations about foreign interference in Canadian elections since last January and he hasn't taken any action," Poilievre said.
"No foreign government should have any influence over our elections or our future. That should reside in the hands of Canadians. And so far, that has not been the case with the prime minister. He has failed to protect our democracy."
Poilievre told reporters that Trudeau needs to explain what he knew about Chinese interference in Canadian elections and how he responded to the threat.
The Conservative leader was citing a Global News story that said Canadian intelligence officials alerted Trudeau in January that China had interfered in the 2019 federal election.
Quoting unnamed sources, the Global News story said the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) sent briefing notes to Trudeau and several cabinet ministers alleging China covertly funded 11 candidates in the 2019 federal election.
The briefing notes, which did not identify the candidates, also said that China worked to get its agents employed in the offices of members of Parliament.
Watch: Poilievre says Trudeau 'has failed to protect our democracy'
"We need to have a government that stands up for human rights and for freedoms and defends Canada's interests in an increasingly dangerous world," Poilievre said.
He said Conservative MPs on the procedure and House affairs committee are confident they have the votes required to make a committee study happen.
Poilievre said he wants the probe to look at "what the prime minister knew, what he is going to do about it and how we're going to protect our democracy from foreign interference."
Matthew Green, the NDP's ethics, privacy and information critic, said the party would support Poilievre's proposed study.
"New Democrats would absolutely support a fulsome investigation into this, one that looks at not just the 2019 election, but what was known in prior elections, if any information is there," Green said in an interview.
"I think that this is something all Canadians are going to be watching very closely. As New Democrats, we are certainly taking this very seriously, and we're approaching it as a non-partisan issue."
Green called on the government to take action in response to the allegations of Chinese interference in the 2019 federal election.
"There needs to be a strengthening, obviously, of a foreign actors' registry, one that would demand all people who were here in this way to be registered, and adhere to ethical guidelines," Green said.
'We need to do more,' Joly said
Speaking Wednesday at an event hosted by the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and the Asia-Pacific Foundation, Joly described China as "an increasingly disruptive global power."
Joly was at the event to provide an outline of a forthcoming Indo-Pacific strategy for Canada — a strategy that will also guide Canada's relationship with China. Joly said the fully-funded strategy will be launched within a month but didn't give a date.
When asked about foreign interference in Canadian elections, Joly said the Liberal government "won't let any foreign actor meddle in our democracy, period."
"For the past two elections we had a committee that was working on these very issues, and also we strengthened our processes, but I think that we need to do more," Joly said.
Opposing Chinese aggression
Joly said that although China's growing power is reshaping many countries' approaches to foreign policy, Canada must know when to stand strong and when to work with China.
"Canada will never apologize for its national interests and we won't be sorry for seeking to uphold the global rules that govern international trade, international human rights or navigation ... rights," she said.
"We will challenge China when we ought to, and we will cooperate with China when we must."
Joly said Canada's approach to China would include opposing China's approach to Hong Kong by supporting freedom of speech and freedom of the press in the Special Administrative Region, and opposing any Chinese threats against Taiwan — which China claims is part of its territory.
The Uyghur minority
Joly also addressed the situation in China's Xinjiang region. Several governments and human rights groups have described China's treatment of the Uyghur minority in the region as a crime against humanity or genocide.
Joly said Canada "will continue to engage at the highest levels regarding the human rights situation in the Xinjiang region in China, where credible accounts of human rights abuse and crimes against humanity are well-documented."
Members of Parliament voted last year to label China's persecution of the Uyghurs a genocide, but then-foreign affairs minister Marc Garneau abstained on behalf of the government.
A number of recent issues have undermined Canada-China relations. China detained Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor in 2018 before releasing them last year. Canada's government earlier this year banned Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications company, from working on Canada's 5G network, citing security concerns.
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PM says foreign actors playing 'aggressive games' with Canadian democracy, institutions
Trudeau responded to a report that China funded 11 candidates in 2019 federal election
Trudeau was responding to a Global News story which reported that Canadian intelligence officials alerted him in January to a Chinese campaign of interference in the 2019 federal election.
Sources told Global a series of Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) briefing notes to the prime minister and several cabinet ministers said China covertly funded 11 candidates in the 2019 federal election. The sources told Global the briefings did not identify the candidates.
The briefing notes further allege that China worked to get its agents employed in the offices of members of Parliament.
"Unfortunately we're seeing that countries, state actors from around the world, whether it's China or others, are continuing to play aggressive games with our institutions, with our democracies," Trudeau told a news conference Monday.
"The world is changing, and sometimes in quite scary ways, and we need to make sure that those who are tasked with keeping us safe every single day are able to do that, and that's why we'll continue to invest in some of the tools and resources necessary to do that."
Trudeau did not commit to introducing any new laws to crack down on foreign influence operations in Canada.
"There are already significant laws and measures that our intelligence and security officials have to go against foreign actors operating on Canadian soil," he said.
"We will continue to make sure that they have the necessary resources, and we will continue to look at giving them more tools as necessary to both stand true to our values and to ensure that Canadians are safe and protected."
Michael Chong, the Conservative foreign affairs critic, and Pierre Paul-Hus, the party's Quebec lieutenant, said in a media statement that the government needs to come up with a plan to address Chinese interference.
"Conservatives are extremely troubled by a recent media report that Canada has been the target of extensive foreign interference by Beijing in the 2019 election," they said in a statement posted to Twitter Tuesday.
"It's long past time for the Trudeau government to come forward with a robust plan to counter Beijing's foreign interference operations here on Canadian soil."
Conservative's
foreign affairs critic Michael Chong called on the Trudeau government
to come up with a plan to counter Chinese interference operations in
Canada. (Joe Fiorino/CBC)
A spokesperson for China's foreign ministry said China's government has "no interest in Canada's internal affairs."
"Relations between countries can only be built on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit. China-Canada relations are no exception," Zhao Lijan said Tuesday at a news conference.
"The Canadian side should stop making remarks that would harm bilateral relations."
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