Key Takeaways from Phase Two of the Foreign Interference Commission

Photo Credit: Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

Canada’s Foreign Interference Commission began phase two of its investigation on Sept. 16, revealing controversy around MP Michael Chong, and furthering tensions with India following the 2023 assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh leader. The inquiry has also led to tense discussion between Liberals and Conservatives due to allegations of compromised Conservative MPs.

Under pressure from opposition parties after the issue of foreign interference surfaced in late 2022, the Liberals established the Public Inquiry on Sept. 7, 2023, appointing Justice Marie-Josée Hogue as Commissioner. 

The Commission is working in two phases of public hearings. Phase one aimed to uncover information on foreign interference in past elections, and concluded in May. The second phase aims to examine the “capacity of federal departments, agencies, institutional structures, and the governance processes to permit the Government of Canada to detect, deter, and counter such inference,” as stated by the Commission’s website. Public hearings were held in September and October, and a final report is expected by Dec. 31.

In phase one, the Commission examined the effects of interference from China, Russia, and other foreign actors, on the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. An intermediary report from Justice Hogue noted that Canadian officials were “clandestinely leveraged” in an attempt to sabotage “anti-China” political candidates, and exclude them from local events. 

The report also mentions secret funding, and accuses China and Russia of threatening Canadians and relatives living in their home countries. The report concludes that “acts of foreign interference did occur during the last two federal general elections, but they did not undermine the integrity of our electoral system. Our system remains sound.” 

On Oct. 16, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified, offering what he knows about foreign intervention in Canadian politics. Here are the major takeaways from his testimony.

1. Trudeau responds to Chong allegations

During his testimony, Trudeau responded to allegations that Conservative MP Michael Chong and his family were being targeted by Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei.

According to reporting by The Globe and Mail, China’s interest in Chong was the result of a 2021 parliamentary motion he led, where he declared that Beijing’s actions against the Uyghurs, a primarily Muslim ethnic group in the country’s northwest, as constituting genocide.

The UN Human Rights Office claims the Uyghurs are facing mass arbitrary detainments, among other injustices, that constitute crimes against humanity.

In response to the allegations, Canada expelled Zhao Wei and China reciprocated. However, it was revealed in his testimony that Trudeau only learned that Chong was being targeted from the media.“My instant reaction was to turn to my [national security intelligence adviser] and say, ‘Find out what exactly the threat is, and if it is indeed this, why am I only learning about this in the newspapers?” he told the Commission.  

In a previous on-camera hearing, Trudeau claimed that media headlines led him to believe that China was pressuring Chong by targeting his family. 

During his most recent testimony, he apologized, saying he didn’t want to minimize the “real” issue of China interfering with MPs, but continues to say that headlines that were circulated around Chong, were “simply not borne out by the actual intelligence or analysis by intelligence officials.”

2. Tensions rise as Trudeau expels and exposes Indian diplomats

Before his testimony, Justin Trudeau announced Canada would expel six Indian diplomats, providing more details on the subject the following day, and revealing a conversation that he had with India’s prime minister.

On June 18, 2023, in Surrey BC, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and organizer for an overseas referendum on an independent Sikh state within India, was shot dead.

Initially, the RCMP assessed Nijjar’s death as gang- or crime-related. Later, Trudeau stated that South Asian MPs suggested the government of India was involved. 

On Oct. 14 Canada expelled six of their top Indian diplomats, including the country’s High Commissioner to Canada, who are allegedly connected to Nijjar’s murder, intimidation, and death threats. More than a year after allegations of India’s involvement were made public, these diplomats have all been identified as persons of interest “after the RCMP gathered ample, clear and concrete evidence,” Mélanie Joly, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, told the inquiry. 

“We chose to continue to work behind the scenes to try to get India to cooperate with us,” Trudeau said during his testimony, while describing his brief meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 summit in 2023. Canada had yet to go public with its allegations, as Trudeau said they “had the opportunity of making it a very uncomfortable summit for India.”

“I sat down and shared that we knew that they were involved and expressed a real concern around it. [Modi] responded with the usual response from him, which is that we have people who are outspoken against the Indian government in Canada that he would like to see arrested,” Trudeau explained. On Sept. 18, 2023, he publicly accused India of involvement in Nijjar’s death.

“The Indian government made a horrific mistake in thinking that they could interfere as aggressively as they did in the safety and the sovereignty of Canada,” said Trudeau.

3. Conservative MPs’ are allegedly compromised.

During his testimony, Trudeau spoke about a list of names of current and former parliamentarians and candidates who “are engaged, or at high risk of, or for whom there is clear intelligence around, [perpetration of] foreign interference.” 

To protect the integrity of the Conservative Party, he instructed the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to notify party leader Pierre Poilievre of the list. 

However, CSIS requires security clearance for anyone who wishes to view the list, which Pollievre has refused to obtain. Conservatives claim the clearance would prevent Poilievre from questioning or challenging the Liberals on the issue. 

“We’re not going to allow the government to silence leaders of the opposition by swearing them to secrecy,” Poilievre said in a press conference

“Justin Trudeau is doing what he always does: he is lying. He is lying to distract from a Liberal caucus revolt against his leadership and the revelations he knowingly allowed Beijing to interfere and help him win two elections,” he said in a statement, demanding Trudeau release the full list of names.

Nevertheless, Trudeau claims the Conservative leader refuses to obtain security clearance in an attempt to abdicate responsibility. “The decision by the leader of the Conservative Party to not get those classified briefings means that nobody in his party — not him, nobody in a position of power — knows the names of these individuals and can take appropriate action.”