On Parliament Hill

In recent weeks, Canadians have heard a lot about alleged Chinese interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections, and about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s possible complicity in covering it up.

While no one is questioning the overall election results (nationally), Conservatives are focused on combating any future election interference and strengthening election integrity for all Canadians. The first step is to find out what Justin Trudeau knew and when he knew it?

A fully independent public inquiry is the only way to credibly investigate Beijing’s interference in our democracy and to uncover what and when the Trudeau Liberals knew about this foreign interference.

Justin Trudeau continues to try to distract, divide and cover-up his failure to protect Canadians from foreign interference.

As Michael Higgins of the National Post wrote recently, “rather than getting serious about election interference, everything he (Trudeau) announced is merely smoke and mirrors.”

Justin Trudeau could clear this up today by finally coming clean with Canadians, telling them the truth, and calling a public inquiry. Sadly, like so many previous scandals, it seems Justin Trudeau has no interest in the truth coming out. In fact, if these reports are to be believed, his political future may depend on keeping Canadians in the dark.

First, he denied any knowledge of election interference. CSIS (the Canadian Security Intelligence Service) were quick to cast doubt on those claims by disclosing the PM had, indeed, been briefed on numerous occasions. The PM then tried to make the allegations go away by appointing the former head of the Trudeau Foundation – a man who had accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from Beijing – to look into the matter. He believed this and a secret study by NSICOP (the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians) would be sufficient.

As respected journalist John Ibbitson wrote in theGlobe and Mail earlier this week:

“He (Trudeau) dismissed the initial reports… of Chinese interference in federal elections. He blamed the whistle-blowers. He accused critics of racism. (His) MPs on a committee investigating the allegations filibustered. Finally, with the crisis escalating and all sides calling for a public inquiry, he promised to appoint a “rapporteur” to make recommendations on next steps.”

To anyone with nothing to hide, the first step should have been to call a full-scale public inquiry.

Conservatives have been clear, an open and public inquiry that is truly independent is required to get to the bottom of this, while also continuing the ongoing parliamentary committee investigations.

China’s Communist regime has hacked and spied on Canada and Canadians for years. They are operating illegal police stations on our soil and likely interfered in a dozen or more elections. Canadians deserve real answers, not another Trudeau coverup.

It is also clear from CSIS leaks – the unprecedented nature of which show just how concerned Canada’s security establishment must be with this Prime Minister – that Beijing clearly had (and has) a favorite horse in the race. As one Chinese consulate official said, “The Liberal Party of Canada is becoming the only party that the PRC (People’s Republic of China) can support.”

Higgins of the Post goes on to the heart of the issue: “The heart of this scandal isn’t that there has been election interference; it’s that the Liberals allegedly knew there was election interference but did nothing because it was to their benefit.”

To make things even worse, their purchased partners in the NDP have once again sold themselves and sold-out Canadians in the process, voting against our Conservative motion to compel further testimony and evidence. The are helping this government cover up the truth. Small wonder lifelong NDP voters are defecting to the Conservative Party. Only Conservatives are standing up for Canadians and only Conservatives can be trusted to get the answers Canadians deserve.

We will continue to stand up for our democracy and get to the bottom of what Justin Trudeau knew and when he knew it. The Government and their partners in the NDP must be held accountable for their actions. We will continue to seek answers so Canadian voters can do just that.