Canada’s democratic institutions are “robust in the face of foreign interference” attempts and there is “no evidence of ‘traitors’” in the country’s parliament, a landmark report into election meddling has found.
But the commission’s lead said on Tuesday that the federal government should take steps to better safeguard democratic institutions and better inform the public of foreign interference threats.
In her final report on foreign interference in Canada, Marie-Josée Hogue, a leading judge, rebutted a previous survey by the country’s intelligence watchdog that alleged that lawmakers had been “witting or semi-witting” participants in foreign meddling – although she concluded that some had been found to be “behaving naively” and displaying “questionable” ethics.
In June, the all-party national security and intelligence committee of parliamentarians warned that some parliamentarians had accepted bribes and shared information with foreign intelligence officers.
At the time, various politicians used the vague nature of the allegations to tar opponents as compromised by foreign powers.
“I have the names of a number of parliamentarians, former parliamentarians and/or candidates in the Conservative party of Canada who are engaged [in] or at high risk of, or for whom there is clear intelligence around, foreign interference,” the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said as part of his sworn testimony during the inquiry.
At the time, the Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, said Trudeau was “lying” about the list.
“If Justin Trudeau has evidence to the contrary, he should share it with the public. Now that he has blurted it out in general terms at a commission of inquiry, he should release the facts. But he won’t, because he’s making it up.”
In her exhaustive report, Hogue found no evidence of crimes against the country by lawmakers.
“Although a few cases involving things like attempts to curry favour with parliamentarians have come to light, the phenomenon remains marginal and largely ineffective,” she said. “While the states’ attempts are troubling and there is some concerning conduct by parliamentarians, there is no [need for] widespread alarm.”
Canada has been repeatedly rocked by allegations of foreign meddling in its electoral system in recent years.
One of the more troubling accusations involved leaked intelligence reports of Chinese election “meddling: in 2023, Canada expelled a Chinese diplomat after an intelligence report accused him of trying to intimidate a Canadian lawmaker critical of Beijing’s treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority. The commission also found India had used disinformation campaigns and an extensive network of pressure against diaspora communities.
Neither country is believed to have swayed the results of the last two elections.
The seven-volume report included proposals to safeguard future elections and protect diaspora communities from foreign interference. Of the 51 recommendations from Hogue, roughly half will be implemented before the next election, which could come as early as the spring.
The inquiry heard from more than 100 witnesses and 60 experts and diaspora members and examined “tens of thousands of documents”.
Last May, Hogue concluded that while foreign interference occurred in the last two general elections, it did not change the outcome of those elections.
Her final report reiterated those findings, but said the government was a “poor communicator” when it came to foreign interference.
Hogue said disinformation posed the greatest threat to Canada and required an effort to fight it that exceeded the tools of government alone.
“Foreign interference will never be fully eradicated and it will always be necessary to counter it,” she said. “Democracies are under attack from all sides.”
