But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to pretend there is no issue
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Another day and another shocking revelation involving allegations China attempted to interfere with Canada’s democracy.
Sadly, also another attempt by our prime minister to try and obfuscate and pretend there isn’t an issue to address.
Justin Trudeau and his officials are now being critical of the very intelligence agencies that he says protect our system.
On Friday, Global News reported allegations the Trudeau Liberals were warned that China had interfered to help secure the Liberal nomination in Don Valley North for Han Dong. According to the report, CSIS asked the Liberals to rescind Dong’s nomination over interference concerns, but the party refused.
The Toronto Sun has not verified the allegations in the Global News story.
The claims from CSIS include that the Chinese Consulate sent busloads of Chinese seniors into the nomination meeting with Dong’s name written on their arm. And that Chinese students studying in Canada were given fake addresses and told to vote for Dong in the nomination meeting “if they want(ed) to maintain their student visa status,” according to the CSIS briefing.
The allegations are shocking and disturbing, though Dong denies their accuracy and claims he did not work with China.
“My nomination in 2019 was open and followed the rules,” Dong told Global. “And I reject any attempts to undermine people’s faith in this process.”
There are more allegations in the Global News report about Dong – which Dong also denies – and other well-connected Liberals in the Toronto area, but my concern is with Trudeau’s reaction to each new allegation. He wants us to believe there is nothing to see here, that the processes in place are enough and we should simply trust him.
Trudeau’s office refused to speak to the allegation in the Global News report, stating there are too many inaccuracies. It’s the same response he’s adopted lately to leaks of CSIS documents in the Globe and Mail detailing other aspects of China’s attempts to interfere in Canada’s elections.
There are serious concerns about electoral interference, specifically allegations that China interfered in two elections to ensure a Liberal victory and the leader of the Liberal Party, our prime minister, doesn’t want you asking questions. On Wednesday, Trudeau implied that asking questions only helped China because it helped undermine faith in our democracy.
On Friday, he said he supported the various investigations into these allegations, including by a Commons committee, but his own Liberal MPs blocked the release of documents on this matter and blocked the ability to call key witnesses like Trudeau’s chief of staff Katie Telford. That makes it look like they have something to hide from the public at large.
“The Liberal Party of Canada is becoming the only party that the People’s Republic of China can support,” a CSIS document reviewed by Global News states.
That statement alone should be disturbing to every Canadian, including supporters of the Liberal Party who should question what is going on behind the scenes to make this a reality.
Foreign interference in domestic affairs isn’t a new phenomenon, it’s happened since the beginning of time. In the past, a country like China would try to influence elected officials in all parties by making their case, a normal diplomatic and very legal means.
Now, we have China attempting to ensure any voices critical of their actions in Hong Kong, in Taiwan, in Tibet or Xinjiang are silenced. The dictators in Beijing don’t want Canadians electing MPs who will raise China’s abusive human rights record, a concern for many Chinese-Canadians who came to this country to escape that oppression.
Beijing is trying to spread its influence into our elections, into candidate selection, into the very voting booth.
Given the allegations against his party, against his candidates, against his top officials who rejected advice and a warning from CSIS, Trudeau’s answers simply don’t cut it.
https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/lilley-new-report-names-candidate-csis-claims-got-help-from-china
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