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Trudeau launches probe into Chinese interference in polls after receiving stick from opposition

Trudeau launches probe into Chinese interference in polls after receiving stick from opposition

Justin Trudeau

Days after opposition parties opened up a front, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that two agencies will probe the allegations of Chinese interference in the country's elections.

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According to Trudeau, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA) will probe the matter. However, he added the caveat that neither of the investigations will be public.

While NSICOP will look into the election interference angle, NSIRA will assess how Canada's security agencies responded to the allegations and handled foreign interference.

Trudeau also announced the appointment of an Independent Special Rapporteur to probe classified reports about Chinese muddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

"I will be appointing an independent special rapporteur, who will have a wide mandate and make expert recommendations on combating interference and strengthening our democracy," Trudeau told reporters in Parliament Hil, Ottawa.

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Opposition parties demand public inquiry

Notably, last week, Canada's opposition parties pressured the Trudeau government to open a public inquiry into alleged election interference by China.

"We want to know exactly what the Chinese authoritarian government did, and whether there were political parties aware of those actions or not,” said Pierre Poilievre, Conservative party leader.

Even after the announcement on Monday, the New Democrats criticised the NSICOP committee probe saying it was no substitute to a 'public inquiry'.

"The way to stop foreign actors from acting in secret is to refuse to keep their secrets," said Peter Julian, New Democrat MP.

Read more: 'We want to know': Canada's opposition parties call for inquiry into Chinese interference in elections

Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy has refuted all the claims about election interference.

“We are not interested in meddling with Canada’s internal affairs, nor have we ever tried to do so,” it said in an email.

Tensions between the two countries reached a tipping point when Trudeau was given a dressing down by Chinese President Xi Jinping in front of cameras at the G20 summit in Indonesia last year.

Xi scolded Trudeau for leaking details of a meeting where the Canadian prime minister brought up the issue of China interfering in Canada's affairs.

(With inputs from agencies)

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