The foreign interference inquiry’s failure to uncover much substance should lead to an inquiry into the foreign forces that pushed the inquiry in the first place. This is even more pressing now that the US president is calling to annex Canada.
On Tuesday the commissioner of the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions, Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, released her final report. It concluded:
“Although there are a very small number of isolated cases where foreign interference may have had some impact on the outcome of a nomination contest or the result of an election in a given riding, there is no evidence to suggest that our institutions have been seriously affected by such interference or that parliamentarians owe their successful election to foreign entities. While any attempted interference is troubling, I am reassured by the minimal impact such efforts have had to date.
“Nor have I seen any evidence of ‘traitors’ in Parliament plotting with foreign states to act against Canada. Although a few cases involving things like attempts to curry favour with parliamentarians have come to light, the phenomenon remains marginal and largely ineffective. I am not aware of any federal legislation, regulations or policies that have been enacted or repealed on account of foreign interference.
“While the states’ attempts are troubling and there is some concerning conduct by parliamentarians, there is no cause for widespread alarm. Fortunately, I did not come across a situation where a parliamentarian decided not to speak out, or expressed an opinion that was not really their own, out of fear of reprisals from foreign actors. However I attribute this to the courage of our elected officials, because the risk is real — particularly given the potential for retaliatory disinformation campaigns by foreign states.”
Hogue was tasked with the inquiry after Liberal special rapporteur on foreign interference, David Johnston, poured cold water on CSIS’ fear mongering over Chinese interference and rejected a call for a public inquiry in 2023. The Conservatives, NDP and media claimed Stephen Harper’s appointee as governor-general was biased, forcing the Liberals to heed calls for a formal inquiry.
Hogue’s delivery of a ‘nothing burger’ is an indictment of a pro-US empire media, its Canadian intelligence agencies, Washington-funded NGOs and opposition parties. It is clear the foreign interference panic was a manifestation of the principal foreign interference in Canada. “The Canadian institutions most strongly connected to the US are leading the China interference scare,” I wrote in July after a preliminary report. “The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and Communications Security Establishment (CSE) have pushed the fearmongering in the face of discomfort from many among Canada’s corporate elite….
Central figures promoting the China interference scandal are funded by the US.… Led by regular foreign interference commentator Marcus Kolga, the Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s DisinfoWatch was established with money from the US State Department’s Global Engagement Center and the US Embassy in Ottawa… One of the most quoted individuals decrying Chinese interference in Canada, Mehmet Tohti, has worked for various US-sponsored Uyghur groups, notably the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, which was funded by the US’ National Endowment Fund for Democracy for their advocacy in Canada. Tohti also played an important role in pushing Parliament to adopt a resolution calling China’s treatment of Uighurs a genocide, which pushed the Trudeau government towards more conflictual relations with Beijing.”
In a front-page Globe and Mail article headlined “Hogue report underplays threats faced by diasporas, advocate say”, Tohti criticized the report. In a long post to X the longtime US funded activist said the report was “deeply regretful”, “beyond disappointing”, “sends a dangerous message” and “a matter of life and death”.
The need to investigate and root out real foreign interference has become more pressing with Trump’s threats. For the sake of Canadian democracy and sovereignty we need to shine a light on the foreign force that stirred the foreign interference inquiry panic.
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