The federal government in Ottawa is launching an investigation into allegations that China has interfered in Canada’s election process.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has appointed a special investigator to study claims that China sought to influence the outcomes of both the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.
The issue will also be investigated by a group of federal politicians who have clearance to review top-secret intelligence reports.
Government leaks in recent weeks claim that China meddled in the 2019 and 2021 votes that returned Trudeau’s Liberal government to power.
The reports include claims that Beijing spread misinformation to hurt certain candidates, and funneled money toward people it wanted elected.
The most damaging allegation is that China wanted Trudeau’s Liberals re-elected rather than the federal Conservative Party.
While Trudeau and Chinese President Xi Jinping have had political differences in public, the Liberals are seen as more open to doing business with the Asian nation than the Conservatives.
Last week, the federal government published a report that found there were attempts at foreign interference in the 2021 election, though it concluded that there was “not enough (interference) to have met the threshold of impacting electoral integrity.”
Recent polling has found that more than half (50%) of Canadians see meddling in elections as a serious threat to democracy and want the government to respond to the allegations.
China’s government maintains that it never interfered with Canada’s electoral process.
